


Blood & Steel

by lightfighter08



Series: Fears of the Past, Demons of the Future [1]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Laura's a badass, Vampire Hunter AU, Werewolf!Danny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-05 09:21:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3114650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightfighter08/pseuds/lightfighter08
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been 80 years of uneasy peace between the powerful vampire clans and the human families who hunted them. Laura Hollis, born and raised in one of these families, is sworn to the defense of humanity. But her personal mission to seek the truth behind the murky details surrounding her mother's death may uncover secrets so terrible they may destroy that peace once and for all...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to do a vampire hunter AU for a while now, and with winter break upon me there's no time like the present! Hope this first chapter isn't too heavy on the exposition. Enjoy!

Laura hated the morning watch. She appreciated the threat of vampires just as much as the next person, of course (she was a hunter, from a long line of hunters – the suspicion and wariness of vampires was in her blood), but even so she’d never been able to take this watch seriously.

What self-respecting ambush would come in broad daylight, for god’s sake? More importantly, what vampire would even bother to attack the veritable fortress that was the Hollis compound when it was at its weakest?

These thoughts went in circles in her head as she grumpily took another sip of coffee from her thermos, her breath misting in the frosty morning air. Regardless of her doubts, Laura needed to be alert; she was still responsible for this watch, doubts or no, and she had been trained from birth to take her responsibilities with deadly seriousness. (Her father’s constant refrain of “Constant vigilance!” in the background throughout her childhood had helped reinforce matters.)

Lifting the scope mounted to her rifle back to her eyes, she slowly scanned the perimeter of the compound, carefully looking for signs of anything amiss. But – like the last fifty scans – all was still and quiet, the pale morning light bathing the grounds and giving them an ethereal glow.

She sighed and sat back, glancing at her watch: 7 AM. Still a good two hours left in her patrol’s watch, and they’d been out here since 5 in the morning, taking over for the weary night watch. Plenty of time to cool her heels, then (if not freeze them off altogether; it was _cold_ ).

She wondered, not for the first time, if this whole thing was worth her time. She could’ve gotten out of the watch easily enough, she knew; being William Hollis’ daughter had some perks, and no one would’ve said anything had the daughter of the head of House Hollis opted out and let one of the House’s other hunters fill the spot.

But she dismissed the errant thought even as it came; it was important to show that she did not consider herself above the tasks considered vital to the safety of the House, dull though they may be, and prove herself as a leader capable of heading the House when her time came.

Even more crucial than keeping morale up was the fact that though it was peacetime, it was a tenuous peace at best, a fact acknowledged by all. The Treaty had been signed just shy of a century past, meaning that many of the vampire signatories were still alive and ruling (just in a slightly muted manner to satisfy the most severe conditions of the Treaty), and the human families who hunted them and protected humanity had long memories.

They would not so easily forget the centuries of terror the immortal race had inflicted upon humanity, killing and abducting freely and keeping whole populations downtrodden and underfoot. And it was a matter of pride to remember the uprising their ancestors had begun, learning and exploiting the few but potent weaknesses of their hated oppressors and using them to assassinate a few of the heads of the most powerful vampire clans.

This had triggered decades of strife as these newly made hunters conducted guerrilla warfare, determined to undermine vampire rule whenever and wherever possible, passing down the knowledge of the vampires’ weaknesses from generation to generation and over time forming formidable Houses of hunters sworn to continue the struggle.

The Treaty had at long last put an end to the most terrible of the violence, the vampire clans having taken severe enough losses to the most powerful of their leadership to wish to come to terms.

They had agreed – on paper, at least – to cease the wanton violence and even slaughter carried out by their younger members, to exercise justice on rogue members, and most importantly to abandon their ruling of many cities and even states across the continent, and leave governance of humans to humans. In return, the hunters would cease their ambushes and assassinations, and mostly lay down their weapons, save for defense.

Of course, nothing ever agreed on in paper ever worked out quite so perfectly in reality.

The clans had scarcely allowed the ink to dry before shamelessly exploiting any and every loophole they perceived to exist; they withdrew their official rule from the territories they controlled, and just as promptly installed puppets. They poured money into human industry and government, buying up stock in corporations with one hand and politicians with the other.

As the old world turned into the new, the clans changed with it, and scant decades after signing the Treaty they held nearly as much influence as they once had, but wielded it with the new world’s weapon of money rather than the old world’s threat of violence.

And so the hunter houses remained on edge. They could no longer outright attack the clans, at the risk of plunging them all into another futile war, but neither could they allow them to simple re-seize the power the hunters had sacrificed so many decades and lives to tear away.

Thus they too adapted to the new times, House Hollis among them, continuing to train their children in the older methods of assassination and warfare but adding intrigue and politics to the mix. Laura’s own education had been an eclectic and deadly mix of martial arts and history, firearms and politics, on top of all her standard classes.

The thought of martial arts prompted her to glance at her watch again. Only 8 AM. Dammit. She really needed to get to the training rooms and practice that neat throw the Krav Maga instructor had taught her last week; she was sparring with Danny tomorrow and had a feeling the other girl’s height made her a prime targ- er, _opponent_ – for the move.

Feeling cheered at the thought of using someone’s center of gravity against them, Laura decided to stretch her legs a bit, having drained her rapidly cooling coffee and once again scanned the perimeter (still almost irritatingly peaceful). Slinging her rifle over her shoulder, she set off to walk the battlements.

And promptly tripped on the outstretched legs of a deeply asleep, loudly snoring Wilson Kirsch.

Kirsch jerked awake at the rude intrusion, scrabbling for his rifle with alarm until he saw Laura and relaxed, greeting her with a broad grin. “Yo, hunter hottie!”

Laura looked at him flatly. “Kirsch, do we need a reminder of what happened last time you called me that?”

He winced and hastily backpedaled, holding his hands up apologetically. “Er, no, sorry, Laura. Bad habits, you know?”

Laura was unimpressed. “Right. And any reason you’re sleeping on the job?”

Kirsch rubbed the back of his neck, looking abashed. “Long night, hunter h- _Laura_. Didn’t get much sleep.”

He got a raised eyebrow in return, and hastily clarified: “Me and the bros were have a Smash Bros tournament. It just felt right, you know? Bros, locked in battle, setting out to find the bro among bros.” Struck with a bolt of inspiration, he added hopefully, “Actually, it totally could be considered training! Like, survival of the fittest!”

Laura was getting a headache.

Kirsch, ever optimistic, mistook her grimace for a look of interest. “Yo, you should totally join us next time! We consider you an honorary bro already!”

“That’s really…great to hear, Kirsch, but I usually try to sleep at night,” Laura said. “So that I can be alert for the morning watch. And not fall asleep.”

“Right, right,” Kirsch replied, nodding seriously. “Constant vigilance. I’m all about that.”

Laura gave him a hard stare, trying to see if he was being serious, but upon receiving a guileless look in return sighed and abandoned the pursuit in favor of her sanity and rapidly deepening headache. She snuck a quick look at her watch – 8:30 – and decided to switch tacks altogether.

“Well, actually, Kirsch, I’m glad I ran into you,” she said. “I’m gonna head out a bit early and let you lead the rest of today’s watch!”

“Woah, seriously?” he asked, perking up.

“Yep! It’s a big deal, right? Just…don’t fall asleep again, okay?” she asked, already slinging her rifle back onto her shoulder and edging away.

“No worries, Hollis! You’re a bro, you know that?” he said, bounding to his feet.

“Uh, yeah, you too, Kirsch. Okay see you tomorrow bye!” she got out the rest of her farewell in a rush before speeding away with relief.

She felt a bit bad about skipping out on the last half hour of the watch and using Kirsch, but honestly, she knew nothing was going to happen and Kirsch, overgrown puppy that he was, was genuinely pleased to be asked. And she really wanted to practice that throw, so everyone was happy!

After returning her rifle to the armory, Laura dashed to the upper levels of the compound, where the private quarters were. Only a fraction of the hunters sworn to House Hollis actually lived in the House’s compound, the majority opting to live throughout the surrounding city, but given that she was a Hollis the compound had been her home since birth.

Having changed into her workout clothes in record time, Laura set off once more in the direction of the training rooms, already imagining the look on Danny’s face as she sailed through the air. The shock, the awe, the admiration, the-

She stopped short, her daydream dissolving, as she came upon a door that, instead of being tightly sealed as usual, stood ajar. She stared at it for a second, stunned, then marched towards it, growing angrier by the second. Who the _hell_ dared enter her mother’s study? How did they even get in? The only ones who had the key were her and her father- her father.

Slowing just as she got to the door, she looked inside, feeling the same wave of nostalgia and bone-deep sadness she did every time she ventured into it. The room was dark, the curtains drawn tight, with only the small desk lamp illuminating the corner of the study. And there, sitting at the desk, was William Hollis, his face buried in his hands.

Laura stared for a moment, fearfully transfixed. As much as she loved her father, the two had never been very good at sharing their grief, and she felt very much an intruder in that moment, standing in the doorway of her mother’s study. She took a step back, thinking to slip away unnoticed, but in doing so managed to step on an embarrassingly creaky floorboard. God, seriously? So much for those years of silent assassin training, Hollis.

Her father looked up sharply, hastily wiping at his face when he saw Laura. “Laura! Why- I thought you’d still be on the morning watch.”

Laura stepped fully into the room, feeling foolish. “Yeah, usually, but I stepped out a bit early…” A thought occurred to her. “Wait, do you usually come here when I’m out on the battlements?”

He looked away. “I- no, of course not.”

“Dad…”

He sighed. “Just sometimes. When I’m really missing her.”

Laura swallowed, a lump rising in her throat. “Me too.”

He nodded. “That explains her papers laying everywhere…care to explain?”

Laura hesitated, knowing that the truth would infuriate him, but also knowing he would see straight through any lie. So just part of the truth would have to do, then.

“I’ve been…curious, lately. About what Mom was working on when she died.” _When she was killed._

Her father sat up straight, looking concerned. “Sweetheart, why would you want to go and pick at old wounds like that? We already have enough to worry about…”

She switched tacks a bit. “It just helps me feel close to her. She was so smart, and reading her notes lets me relive that, you know?”

He sat back again, looking sympathetic and – to Laura’s relief – less suspicious. “I suppose I can understand that. But Laura, don’t get too caught up in this. It would be too easy to let it consume you.”

“I know, Dad. I’ll be careful. Are _you_ okay?”

He waved her off. “Yes, yes…I’ll be fine.”

She gave him a smile before leaving, eager to be away from his prying eyes. Because he was right, before. It _would_ be too easy to let it consume her. She knew this, because it already had.

She didn’t buy it for a second that Anna Hollis had been killed by a young vampire who had lost control and been taken over by his bloodlust, and then promptly been put to death by his clan – conveniently before anyone from House Hollis could fully question him. And looking at her mother’s notes, she was convinced that her research into the Karnstein clan was directly involved. Her mother had been on the cusp of uncovering something big about the clan’s leader, and in the process had attracted unwanted attention – and been taken out.

She headed to the training rooms with renewed vigor, determination crackling in every line of her body. She _would_ understand her mother’s research, and find for herself what she’d uncovered.

And then? And then she would raise all hell.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Training room reservations were generally pretty easy to come by at the Hollis compound; the rooms were plentiful and state-of-the-art, the House all too willing to put in the money to help its hunters stay in prime condition.

That said, the staff was still less than enthused when they saw a certain combination of names on the reservation list; a bit of wear and tear in the rooms was to be expected, but the sheer destruction inflicted by Laura Hollis and Danny Lawrence was as mind-boggling as it was depressing for the caretakers.

Broken equipment was understandable, the occasional cracked floor explainable…but enormous gouges in the walls? Streaking down in great lines as if they’d been rent by massive claws? How was that even _possible_?

* * *

 Laura Hollis faced down the enormous, reddish wolf before her with narrowed eyes, hands steady around a spear, the long point wickedly sharp. The wolf bared its teeth, letting out a rumbling growl.

They both tensed, keeping close watch on each other for several long moments, before suddenly exploding into movement, Laura lunging forward with the spear even as the wolf leapt to the side and around.

Laura turned sharply, letting her momentum carry her, only to bring up the spear in a parry as the wolf swiped at her with its claws, the metal of the blade meeting the claws in a shower of sparks.

The wolf surged forward again with surprising speed; Laura brought up her spear again to respond, but was a second too slow and it neatly seized the weapon between the teeth and yanked it away from her grasp, pausing to shoot her what she could’ve sworn was a smug look before it bit down, neatly severing the weapon into two, and tossed the pieces away with a derisive toss of its head.

Laura felt a flash of irritation – she’d liked that spear, dammit – as she sidestepped another clawed assault from the wolf (and jeez, _someone_ was feeling a little feisty today), its claws cutting deep gashes into the wall where she’d been. She winced at the marks – the training room staff was going to have her head for sure this time – before turning to face the wolf head on.

It growled again before leaping at her fully, no doubt intending to go for the throat. But this time Laura was ready, and – as she’d practiced endlessly the day before – seized one of the wolf’s outstretched paws as it came to her and, subtly shifting her weight, neatly threw it over her shoulder, its own momentum spurring it on.

She grinned – exactly as satisfying as she’d thought it would be – as it crashed to the ground, letting out a surprised huff. Then, before it had time to react, she was on it in a flash, pulling the dagger free from where it had been strapped to her thigh and pressing it to the beast’s throat.

The wolf stared at her, surprise and irritation evident in its eyes, and let out an aggrieved growl.

“Oh, don’t be so down! That was pretty cool, you have to admit,” Laura said, even as she pressed the dagger a little firmer to the wolf’s neck.

The beast glared at her, unamused, before huffing again and fully baring its throat in surrender.

Laura grinned triumphantly and got to her feet, letting out a decidedly unsportsmanlike whoop, dagger still in hand.

“Laura Hollis, vampire slayer and werewolf slayer,” she intoned as the wolf watched on, looking more and more unimpressed. “General supernatural creature slayer. Who ya gonna call?”

This question was directed towards the wolf, which by this time had gotten to its feet. It shot her a dirty look before rearing back on its hind legs, its flesh beginning to ripple rather unsettlingly, the limbs elongating and fur receding until a tall human stood in its place, hands on her hips.

“Ghostbusters? Really? That’s what you’re gonna go with for your victory speech?” Danny Lawrence asked, incredulous, as she walked over to where her workout clothes had been carelessly tossed.

“Hey! That’s a classic you’re bashing!” Laura protested indignantly. Feeling a bit awkward as she always did when Danny changed back into human form, she busied herself with resheathing her dagger, taking the opportunity to avert her eyes until the rustling of clothing stopped.

“Whatever you say, Hollis. And what the hell what that throw, anyway?” Danny asked, now dressed in a tank top and shorts, red hair tied back.

Laura looked up, embarrassment forgotten in the renewed rush of victory. “Wasn’t that awesome? I learned it last week – thought you’d be the perfect candidate to try it on.”

“Thanks…I think.”

“You’re very welcome.”

After cleaning up the room a bit – which mostly just consisted of recovering the pieces of broken spear and moving the weights rack to cover the gouges in the wall – they stopped at the dining hall to pick up some post-sparring pie, the end to their usual routine.

As they waited in line, Danny talking animatedly about the book she’d been reading, Laura watched her friend fondly.

House Lawrence had been allied with House Hollis long before either girl was born, and Laura had known Danny almost from birth. The two houses were headquartered in the same city – unusual for hunter houses – and as a result Laura and Danny spent a great deal of time together over the years as the houses met both socially and for the mutual business of vampire-watching.

They’d become close friends, both as a natural result of spending so much time together but also due to their complementary temperaments; both appreciated a good adventure, but where Laura was happy to jump in head first Danny was the voice of reason; both shared a love of reading and _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ , and over the years Laura had successfully installed (read: forced) a love of chocolate into the other girl.

It wasn’t an exaggeration, then, to say that the two had little to hide from each other; Danny had been there when Laura’s mother was killed, and knew Laura’s doubts about what had really happened, and Laura had learned early on that the rumors swirling around House Lawrence were more than just hearsay.

Wolves had long been associated with the house, the imagery appearing often throughout the compound and in its coat of arms, but most just assumed it was symbolism standing for House Lawrence’s ferocity in battle, for their loyalty to each other. What most didn’t know, however, was that a strain of lycanthropy had run through the Lawrence family since almost the beginning of the house’s existence.

While the leaders of the other houses knew the truth, the knowledge was kept from the rank-and-file; fear of vampires had become fear of all supernatural creatures, and the last thing any of the houses wanted was infighting or mistrust should the Lawrences’ true nature come out. And if any wolves were reported rushing to battle, well, no point looking a gift horse (gift wolf?) in the mouth.

Laura had long been fascinated by the werewolves of the Lawrence family, often getting Danny to spar with her in wolf form or wheedling out more stories of past family members. Danny always seemed both pleased and a little embarrassed by the attention, always unsure of how to react to the intense interest shown in something she usually tried to keep tightly under wraps.

To Laura, though, academic interest aside, the wolf inside Danny embodied all her favorite things about the girl: her strength, her bravery, the potential for violence tempered by her enormous capacity to be gentle and kind. Danny was Laura’s best friend, but lately she’d been wondering if her feelings for the other girl were strictly friendly.

“…but yeah, in general I guess I just didn’t find Theo to be a very sympathetic character, which kind of sucks since he was the protagonist, and…uh, Laura? You there?”

Hearing her name shook her from her thoughts, and she smiled brightly at the taller girl.

“Yep, totally there, totally listening. So, um, you weren’t totally sold on, ah, Theo?”

She really hoped that was right.

Danny looked at her a bit suspiciously before nodding and continuing with her thoughts, Laura letting out a tiny sigh of relief.

After finally acquiring their pie, they found a table and quickly set to work inhaling it (the kitchen had an uncanny knack for pumpkin pie). They were debating the pros and cons of buying a third slice when Laura’s (embarrassingly unintelligent) phone buzzed.

She grimaced at the flip phone; her father’s paranoia had spread to the possibility that the local vampire clans would try and hack her phone, though what they would possibly do with her musings on _Doctor Who_ she had no idea. Reading the message, she grinned and got to her feet.

“We’re gonna need that third slice after all,” she said as she gathered her things.

“Wait, what?” Danny said around a mouthful of pie, getting up.

“Yep. My intel has some new information for me.”

“Your intel? Who...?” Danny paused, a flash of understanding, quickly followed by dismay, dawning on her face.

“Oh, no way, Laura, I am _not_ \- ”

“Danny,” Laura said, cutting her off firmly. “We’re going to the labs.”

They quickly made their way to the labs at the bottom level of the Hollis compound, Danny muttering about “pencil-pushers” and “irritating pseudo-scientists” until Laura shushed her.

When they arrived at the glass doors of the labs, Laura pressed her thumb to the adjacent scanner, and the doors slid open, a gust of cold air escaping. The labs were an impressive place, the heart of the house’s constant efforts into gaining an edge over their foes, with research into new poisons, weapons, bullets, and general tools of mayhem going on all the time.

They headed to a far corner of the lab where a lab-coated figure stood with their back to them, peering into a microscope and completely unaware of their approach. Laura coughed into her fist, and the person jumped, turning sharply, a rather menacing syringe held aloft in one hand.

“Woah! Hey, sorry for the interruption, LaF. I got your text and had to come as soon as I saw it,” Laura said, holding her hands up placatingly.

LaFontaine (“ _Dr_. LaFontaine to you, Lawrence”) peered at her for a moment, clearly trying to place what she was talking about before snapping their fingers in recognition and setting the syringe down, much to the duo’s relief.

“Laura! Glad you could stop by. Think you’re gonna find this interesting. And, oh, hey, Lawrence,” they said flatly, noticing Danny.

“Hey,” Danny responded, just as unenthused.

Laura rolled her eyes – she’d never understood the random animosity between the two – and cut in. “We brought you pie!”

They cheered and accepted the container. “Ah, pumpkin. The dining hall staff is too good to me. And bribery will get you everywhere, Laura.”

“That’s what I’m hoping. Now, you said you had some info for me?” Laura said hopefully.

“Yep. I was looking at those notes you gave me and crosslisted some of the phrases with this Sumerian reference guide a colleague sent – not easy to get, let me tell you."

Laura nodded eagerly. “And what did you find?”

“As far as I can tell it’s discussing some kind of sacrifice. Of what or for whom, I don’t know. My Sumerian’s pretty rusty and I’m hesitant about making any assumptions.”

“A sacrifice. Of course. God forbid the Sumerians detailed a nice hot chocolate recipe or something instead,” Danny said, rubbing her temples.

LaFontaine shot her a withering glare, but before they could reply Laura spoke up.

“A sacrifice? Well, definitely a little ominous, but not really surprising. I can look at Mom’s notes and see if anything else looks promising.”

“Sounds good. But you know this is gonna be a slow process, right? Like, glacial. I’m pretty far from a Sumerian expert and this is some dense stuff,” LaFontaine said.

Laura tipped her head back in frustration. “I know, but what other choice do we have?”

The scientist hesitated, and Danny narrowed her eyes in suspicion; in her experience that never led to anything good.

“Well, there is something else…”

“What is it?”

“The Karnstein clan. They’re hosting a huge gala tomorrow night for the other clan’s leaders and all the humans they have in their pocket. Black tie, the works.”

Laura rolled her eyes. “God, what is it with them? Is it offensive to their undead sensibilities to go a month without a party?”

“Well, this actually may be an opportunity for us. That many powerful vampires – could be a good place for some intel gathering.”

“How…oh. _Oh_.” Laura took a deep breath, then nodded, nervous but resolute.

Danny was looking back and forth between them. “Hold on, what the hell are you two talking about? Why would this dumb event even…” Understanding, closely followed by alarm, dawned. “Oh, no. No way in hell. Are you out of your _mind_?”

Laura shrugged. “Possibly. But that doesn’t matter, because tomorrow night, I’m crashing that party.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Danny. She must have the heart of a 70 year old with all the stress Laura causes her...


	3. Chapter 3

Laura tugged at her dress nervously as she stared up at the imposing entrance of the Karnstein clan’s headquarters.

And by headquarters, she meant estate in the most proper sense of the word; the grounds were sprawling and carefully manicured, the mansion at their heart almost ridiculously enormous and designed to impress. If a visitor had had any doubts about the clan’s wealth and influence before, they would easily be put to rest within two minutes of arriving.

Around her, other (invited) guests arrived, milling around the entrance, mingling and calling out greetings as they met friends. Laura observed both vampires and humans in the crowd, all dressed in fine evening wear and seeming to her way too smug and self-satisfied about being here, seeing and being seen while waist-coated waiters circulated with both glasses of champagne and, to her vague disgust, blood.

Jumping as a tuxedoed man brushed past her – him shooting her a strange glance at her reaction as he passed – Laura told herself to calm the hell down, and then wondered again if this really was the best plan. She winced as she recollected Danny’s reaction; to say the other girl had been unhappy was an understatement.

_“Laura, you cannot be serious about this.”_

_“Danny, this is our best shot to get some real information quickly! LaF doesn’t exactly have the time to learn ancient languages right now, you know.”_

_“What I_ know _is that you’re planning to willingly enter the lion’s den on the off chance you may learn something slightly useful,” Danny retorted. “Laura, you’re William Hollis’ daughter, for god’s sake – House Hollis’ next leader! If they find you there I can guarantee they’re not going to cheer and welcome you with champagne.”_

_“Okay, probably not, but this is also something I’ve been training for pretty much my whole life. I’m sure I can slip in undetected,” Laura said._

_Danny was unconvinced. “Look, I’m not discounting your abilities. But I would be worried for anyone going to a freaking vampire convention. If your dad were to find out about this, he'd die. Or kill you. Oh my god, he’d kill_ me _.”_

_“Danny, calm down. This is just going to be some quick and easy recon. No staking, no holy water, no trace I was ever there.”_

_“Laura, you’re not getting it! If anything happens to you, you know your dad is going to bring down House Hollis on the clan, treaty or no treaty,” Danny said seriously._

_Laura looked back at her, her face pale but voice steady. “Then I guess I’m just going have to make sure nothing does, won’t I?”_

She’d been convinced that this was a necessary step to take if she ever wanted to get closer to solving her mother’s murder. She still believed it, but it was one thing to believe it behind the bulletproof walls of the lab in the basement of the Hollis compound and another to do so at the front doors of the Karnstein estate, surrounded by vampires and feeling decidedly out of place.

Laura shook her head – snap out of it, Hollis! – and forced herself out of her daze. Alone or not, surrounded by enemies or not, she was a Hollis, dammit, and she’d do what she came here to do. And hopefully not die or trigger a war in the process.

Pep talk over, she gathered her courage and made her way to the doors, careful not to make eye contact with anyone as she walked. It would be just her luck to be recognized as a Hollis before she even began her mission.

But she made her way inside without incident, and almost immediately was overwhelmed by the decadence and finery before her. The Hollis compound was large and imposing, to be sure, but tended to lean towards the utilitarian and martial styles of interior design, and was decidedly lacking in the sumptuous display of gilt and gold leaf, marble and mahogany around her.

God, these clans really were richer than Croesus, weren’t they? She didn’t even want to think about how many corporations the Karnsteins had majority stock in or the number of politicians they had in their pocket, many of whom milled outside.

But that was neither here nor there. Laura had intel to gather. She snatched a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, hoping to blend in a bit more. Here too guests wandered, mingling and laughing, and taking small sips, she began to move through the crowd, feeling the comforting pressure of the dagger strapped to her thigh as she walked.

She was on her third circulation of the room, pretending to take in all that she saw with wide-eyed awe (not too far of a stretch, to be honest), when a conversation between a trio of vampires caught her ear. She moved a bit closer, staring at a painting and sipping at her champagne while she listened intently.

“…be going to the assembly, then?”

“Yes – my sire just told me yesterday. It’s a very great honor,” came a second voice.

“That it is. I believe the Karnsteins are hosting it this year?” A third voice.

“They are, though with the way their leader has been acting lately, I wonder.” The second voice again.

“Whatever do you mean, Frederick?” asked the first voice, hushed.

“Oh come now, surely I’m not the only one to notice how absent their leader has been. That daughter of hers, the Countess, seems to be standing in for her all the time.”

“Frederick, you shouldn’t say such things, especially here of all places- ” the third voice hissed.

“Hmph, perhaps not. But the point remains,” the second voice said.

The conversation turned to other things then, but Laura had heard enough. Draining the rest of her champagne, she set the glass down and left the room, heading deeper into the mansion. Perhaps she could find out more about this absentee leader while she was here.

Laura had been taught the names of all the leaders of the vampire clans, as well as their seconds-in-command, but had been told the most about the Karnstein clan, as it was the closest to House Hollis location-wise. Laura remembered that the daughter the vampires had been talking about was the clan’s second-in-command, and was known as the Countess, after a title she’d apparently had as a mortal, but her given name escaped her…Cara? Camilla? Something like that.

Curiously, the clan took its name from her as opposed to being known as the Morgan clan, after Lilita Morgan, the clan’s leader, though Laura didn’t know why. What she _did_ know was that either Morgan or the Countess was involved in her mother’s death, and was determined to find out who, and why.

By this time, she had ventured deep into the building, the groups of guests thinning out. Once or twice she saw couples embracing in corners, and didn’t think much of it other than feeling slightly awkward – until she realized with a jolt that those couples were actually vampires drinking from humans. Laura knew that the clans had a reputation for hedonism, and had heard that some humans actually enjoyed the sensation (hard as that was to believe), but hearing about it in passing and seeing it were two very different things.

Perhaps elsewhere she may have intervened to ensure that what she was seeing wasn’t actually an assault, but here she was in the literal house of her enemies, so she just hurried on. She didn’t know exactly what she looking for, only that she’d know it when she saw it.

The lights were dimmer here, and Laura found herself moving a bit more slowly and cautiously, all other guests gone this far in. Once or twice she thought she heard some skittering noises, but could never see anything, and just chalked it up to her jumpy nerves.

As she walked down a hallway, something caught the corner of her eye and she stopped abruptly and turned back. Yes, she’d been right. There, in an alcove, hung a scroll covered in the glyphs of the Sumerian language.

She couldn’t read it, of course, but had seen enough samples of it in her mother’s notes to be able to recognize it. The question was, what was it doing here? The scroll, rather battered as it was, was an odd addition to the priceless works of art arranged up and down the hall.

Well, for once she’d prepared for this possibility. She fished the point-and-shoot camera out of her bag she’d brought just in case – no flip phone was going to keep her from documenting evidence. Lifting the camera, she took several shots, zooming in and out until she was satisfied.

“Enjoying your photoshoot?”

Laura barely kept herself from jumping a foot in the air, still unable to conceal her squeak of alarm. She forced herself to turn and meet her inquirer.

Before her stood a girl who looked to be around her age, with long dark hair, mouth twisted in a smirk and eyebrows raised. Laura would have felt at ease if her instincts weren’t screaming in caution and it wasn’t for the fact that she knew this girl was a vampire. And not just any vampire, but the Karnstein clan’s second-in-command. Laura remembered her name, finally. Carmilla.

The vampire was dressed in an elegant black evening gown, looking both a little sinister and ridiculously good. Laura stared for a moment, completely taken aback, but finally found her voice.

“Uh, haha, yeah, just looking around on my way to the bathroom! Really nice place you’ve got here!” Damn. Maybe a little too manic.

The vampire’s – Carmilla – smirk widened. “Oh, looking for the restrooms, huh?”

Laura nodded.

“Hmm, so you must’ve missed the two on the way here?”

Ah, shit. Well, it was worth a try. “Okay, you caught me. This place is just so amazing, I couldn’t resist taking a look around.”

“It is pretty nice, isn’t it? Certainly nicer than that cement block you Hollises call home, wouldn’t you agree, Laura?”

Oh god. Abort mission, abort mission. Laura took a surreptitious step back, preparing to get the hell out of dodge, but Carmilla just took a step forward. The hunter reached down, thinking to grab her dagger, but the vampire clicked her tongue, shaking her head.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, cutie. But there’s no need – I’m just here to chat.”

Laura stared at her, unconvinced, but let her arm drop to her side. Carmilla continued, unfazed.

You’re certainly a far way from home, aren’t you, cupcake? Tell me, what’s a junior hunter like you doing in a place like this?”

Laura swallowed but stood her ground. “Just thought I’d see what the big fuss is about your parties, Karnstein. And I have to tell you, I’m not that impressed.”

“Oh? Well, I guess this type of thing isn’t quite your people’s style, is it. Don’t you have some frozen wall you should be standing watch on right now in case we come calling?” Carmilla raised her eyebrows in mock inquiry.

The hunter saw red for a second, taking an angry step towards the vampire. “Let me guess, you think the whole thing’s a joke? Well, so did a lot of your friends, and guess what? They’re dead now.”

Carmilla’s smile froze, and Laura tensed. “Be careful, cupcake. Wouldn’t want to start another war over a little misunderstanding.”

Oh, god, she was right, damn her. She wasn’t exactly being the soul of discretion that she’d promised Danny she’d be. She forced herself to relax, retreating from the vampire, who in the meantime had found another mocking smile.

“Well, anyway, sweetheart, as fun as this has been I really think it’s time for you to get going. I have hostess duties, and well, we wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”

She stepped towards Laura. “But it was really so nice to meet you, cupcake. I’m quite sure we’ll meet again.”

She brushed past Laura, giving her another damnable smirk, before walking down the hall and quickly disappearing from view.

Laura stared after her, her heart pounding, trying to figure out why she felt both so irritated and so flustered – who the hell did that vampire think she was?! But then Karnstein’s words – and the implicit threat behind them – came back to her, and thinking that she’d already risked enough tonight decided to heed her warning and headed back towards the front of the house.

Finally having made her way back to the entrance, Laura gratefully took her leave, only too happy to be free of the stifling atmosphere of the party, surrounded by danger. The mansion may have been elegant and beautiful, but the girl would take the sturdy and spartan safety of the Hollis compound any day.

By the time she’d returned to the compound (having shot a text to Danny, who had been all too ready to storm the gala and recover Laura), she was exhausted, worn out from being on edge all evening and from her confrontation with that infuriating vampire.

Collapsing onto her bed, she fished through her bag, pulling out the various things she’d taken with her. The camera, a vial of holy water, lipstick, a butterfly knife – she frowned as she brushed against what felt like paper. She hadn’t taken any paper with her.

Pulling out the scrap, she first frowned at the unfamiliar handwriting scrawled across it, and then stared aghast at the message.

_We need to talk. Not safe at estate. Meet noon next Monday at Woodrow Park. Come unseen. –C_

Laura reread it, then let her head fall back against the pillows. Danny was _really_ not going to like this.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens; Danny's blood pressure rises.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a doozy to get out, and I maaayy have stayed up til 5 am to get it done (thank you, winter break) - but I reread it in the morning and it's almost entirely coherent, so enjoy!

“So let me get this straight. You want to go to go meet Carmilla Karnstein, _alone_ , because she asked you to in a note.”

Laura winced. “That’s...pretty much what’s happening. Yep.”

Danny pinched the bridge of her nose. “And this seems completely reasonable to you.”

“Danny, I feel like we had this exact conversation like two days ago.”

The redhead threw her hands up in frustration. “Yeah, because you’re suddenly keen to hurl yourself into every life threatening situation you can find!”

Laura rolled her eyes. “I’m not looking for them, Danny, they’re kind of just coming to me. And if Carmilla can give me an information about Mom, then I have to go.”

“Laura, you don’t even know if that’s what she wants. She didn’t say, did she? What if this is a trap?” The other girl said despairingly.

“That’s a chance I’m willing to take. And I’m not incapable.”

“I know that, just...let me come with you.”

“I can’t risk it. She’d smell your furry little problem from a mile away and vanish.”

A grudging smile forced its way onto Danny’ s face. “Nice HP reference.”

Laura smiled sweetly back. “Why, thank you.”

They stood for a beat, before Danny finally sighed, relenting. “Alright, I guess I get why this is important to you. But you’re important to _me_ , so just...be careful, okay?”

“I always am.”

Danny laughed. “If only.”

As Monday neared, the girls went over the plan they’d hashed out, LaFontaine giving occasional consultation when they could get the chance. Laura had given them the photos of the scroll, but the scientist had been swamped lately with the development of an experimental pulse rifle and hadn’t been able to examine them yet. So Danny and Laura focused on the meeting with the Karnstein clan’s second-in-command.

Looking up the location detailed on the now worn scrap of paper the vampire had slipped Laura, they realized that the park was a good choice. Centrally located between the Hollis compound and the Karnstein estate, the park was a public place sure to be busy during the day, and able to provide the neutrality and anonymity desired by both sides.

Laura and Danny had gone to the park and checked it out at Danny’s insistence, and after hours of assessing the property for potential ambush spots, hidden weapons, and various other tools of treachery, and finding nothing substantial, she was finally - if reluctantly - persuaded that everything seemed on the up and up.

They agreed that Laura would go alone, but fully outfitted with the best and most deadly LaFontaine could provide (which, all things considered, was pretty damn deadly). Danny would wait at the perimeter of the park, and if Laura hadn’t emerged by 1 pm, would storm the place with several of her cousins from House Lawrence, who, despite not knowing the situation, had agreed to help with a cheery eagerness Laura found a little alarming.

(Danny had shrugged dismissively when Laura had asked her about it, saying, “Those guys would agree to a fistfight in an alley if they thought it would be entertaining,” which Laura rather thought summed up House Lawrence as a whole.)

The day of the meeting, Laura woke up at 4:30 as usual to report in for the morning watch. Instead of mainlining coffee throughout the watch to stay alert as she usually did, Laura was wide awake as soon as the alarm went off, the gravity of what she was going to do later that day enough of a stimulant. If anyone caught her speaking with Carmilla, it would certainly be regarded as either colluding with the enemy or the Karnstein clan luring Laura in for some nefarious purpose. Either route would lead to disaster for both sides.

(Also, this was getting way too _Romeo and Juliet_ -ish for Laura’s tastes. She didn’t even _like_ the smug vampire, let alone be willing to go through with mutually assured destruction or a poorly thought-out double suicide. She was a Hollis, after all; she didn’t down poison, she gave it to others.)

And there was still the uncomfortable possibility that Carmilla _was_ leading Laura to a trap. Which, again, disaster, destruction, etc. So, no pressure.

When 9 AM finally arrived, Laura all but sprinted off the battlements, pushing her rifle into Kirsch’s hands with the blurted request that he return it to the armory for her as she ran past, his confused acquiescence barely reaching her ears.

She spent the next several hours first going over and over the varied pieces of weaponry she was bringing, and then when that became tedious went down to the labs to talk shop with LaFontaine (which really just meant that she nervously rambled for an hour while the scientist hummed sympathetically at relevant intervals and looked at slides through a microscope).

Finally, _finally_ , it was time to meet Danny and head to Woodrow Park. Gathering her packed (and repacked, and repacked) bag, she exited the compound and met the redhead several blocks from the park. Danny was looking stressed, to say the least, but raised a hand in greeting when she saw Laura, the two then starting off.

“You ready for this?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Laura replied, studiously ignoring her increasingly sweaty palms.

“Okay, well, I’ll be right outside the park. You’re not out in an hour, the girls and I will rush the place-"

“Fangs out, fur flying?” Laura finished.

Danny smiled wanly. “Something like that.”

Arriving, they looked at each other for a moment before Laura shook herself and glanced at her watch. Nearly time to meet Carmilla. Waving at Danny, she squared her shoulders and entered the park.

Woodrow Park was large and wooded, a popular spot for walks and picnics, and was fairly busy this time of day. It made the moment all the more jarring for Laura as she walked past elderly couples strolling hand in hand, runners trotting along at steady clips, and – here her jaw tightened – young mothers chatting as their children played; a perfect tableau of idyllic recreation, while she made her way into the unknown, unsure of what lay ahead or where her road would take her–

“Are you always this melodramatic, cupcake?”

This time around Laura managed to keep walking, though she was sure the damnable vampire would hear her heart skip a beat or five.

Where there had been empty space by her side, there was now a smirking girl, looking amused as she walked with Laura. The evening gown was long gone; she was wearing a t-shirt and were those- yep, leather pants.

Laura mentally counted to ten before responding. “Says the vampire who felt the need to teleport in.”

“I’m just saying, the way you and that Lawrence girl were going on, I was wondering who would start crying first.”

“You were watching us?!”

Carmilla blithely ignored the question. “I mean really, if someone was watching you two they’d think you were going off to war. I’m surprised she didn’t give you a token of her undying affection.”

Seeing Laura tense at the mention of war, the vampire rolled her eyes. “Oh, honestly. I just want to talk, Hollis. You can keep your stakes to yourself.”

“A lot of sneaking around for a talk,” Laura pointed out, then stopped short, turning to face Carmilla. “Now tell me what you want, or I walk. Right now.”

For once, the vampire grew serious. “I will. But not here – just a little bit further in.”

Laura looked at her a second before nodding shortly. The two walked in silence, the sun streaming in through the trees and the sounds of children laughing doing nothing to lift the tension that had settled between them.

They made their way deeper into the park, where the trees were thicker and less people congregated. Finally, Carmilla halted, looking around for several long moments before nodding.

“Here is fine.”

“About time,” Laura said, her nerves frayed. “So what’s so desperately important, Karnstein? I swear, this better be good-”

“It’s about my mother,” Carmilla interrupted, looking uncharacteristically grave. “And yours.”

Laura stared, unable to speak for several moments. She’d been hoping against hope that this would be about that, that she would finally get somewhere with her search and come closer to whatever secrets Anna Hollis had unearthed and that had gotten her killed. And now she was here, and didn’t know what to do. And, wait, had the vampire said _both_ of their mothers?

“What…it’s about _what_?”

Carmilla sighed. “Six years ago, Anna Hollis was killed by a young vampire, right?”

“Yeah – a vampire from _your_ clan.”

“Well, yes. Unfortunately, it was no tragic loss of control. Your mother was purposely taken out, Laura. I’m sorry.”

But Laura had stopped listening after the second sentence, fury overtaking her. It was one thing to have suspicions, quite another to have them confirmed from the very perpetrator.

Taking a step towards Carmilla, Laura spoke, her voice shaking. “ _Unfortunately_? Yes, it was very unfortunate that _my mother was murdered_!”

The vampire stepped back, her eyes wide. “No, Laura, I didn’t mean-"

“And you brought me here so you could, what, _gloat_? Or just tell me something I already know?”

“I needed to tell you that I think my mother was behind it!”

The words stopped Laura short. What would it matter to Carmilla, the clan’s second-in-command, that Laura knew the truth behind her mother’s death?

Seeing Laura hesitate, Carmilla sighed again before explaining. “My mother has been…erratic for the past several years. Acting strangely. I’m getting worried.”

“Define erratic.”

“Erratic as in not deigning to show up to major events between the clans, or even making appearances at little parties like the one you stopped at. She spends most of her time out of the estate, and the things she’s been saying lately…I’m afraid that she’s planning something. Something big.”

“Not to be rude, but what does this have to do with my mother?”

“I know that your mother was killed because she was researching something. I think that whatever she was working on was directly related to whatever my mother’s planning.”

The pieces came together in Laura’s head. “So we have a mutual interest in figuring out what exactly my mother was researching.”

Carmilla nodded. “So it would appear.”

“And I should trust you…why?”

The vampire shrugged. “I guess you don’t really have a good reason, but it’s pretty clear that we need each other if– watch out!”

But Laura was already moving, years of muscle memory kicking into action and helping her sidestep the blow that would have knocked her out at best. She sprang into her fighting stance, fully ready to fight whatever was coming at her tooth and nail.

But, to her surprise, the attack had ceased, replaced with laughter that sent a shiver down her spine. A man with brown hair and unkind eyes – a vampire, she realized – was watching her, looking highly amused.

“Well, well. What have you got here, Kitty?”

Carmilla, for her part, was looking, in a word, pissed. “What the hell are you doing here, William? Were you _following_ me?”

The man – William – shrugged. “Well, you were looking a bit shifty when you left the estate, and you know how Mother worries about you. So I thought I would, ah, keep some tabs.”

Carmilla looked disgusted. “God, you’re such a momma’s boy. What, are you trying to score some brownie points or something?”

“I have a feeling that telling Mother you’re meeting with a _hunter_ , of all people, is sure to net me a few,” he said breezily. “My, she does look delectable though, doesn’t she?”

“You cannot truly be as stupid as you look, you little rat. Are you trying to start a war?” Carmilla hissed.

“ _I’m_ not the one colluding with the enemy, Kitty,” William said. “And don’t worry – I’ll just take a taste.”

Laura had been watching the interaction closely, quickly determining from Carmilla’s body language that this truly was an unplanned and unwelcome intrusion. Her whole body was tightly coiled, ready to spring into action should the man strike again.

The moment he finished talked and blurred into movement, Laura reacted. As soon as he was in striking distance, she brought up her elbow, hitting him directly in the throat. He staggered back, clutching his throat, his eyes wide with surprise.

But before he could recover – which Laura knew would happen almost instantaneously – she was moving again, pulling a small canister from her bag and spraying directly into his face.

As he yelped and clawed at his skin as the highly concentrated holy water burned ugly pockmarks into it, Laura was briefly reminded of the three major tenets all hunters learned about fighting hand-to-hand with vampires: first – Don’t, or at least avoid whenever possible. Vampires were stronger and faster, and those qualities made them very hard to beat in a fair fight. Which led to the second tenet: Never fight fair. They hadn’t survived to become master assassins by being polite about the whole thing. And finally: Don’t be afraid to get creative.

This last principle echoed through her head as she pivoted and kicked him squarely in the chest, a blow that would have sent a human flying several feet but just pushed the vampire to the ground. But that was what Laura was intending, and without a pause she straddled him, and mentally thanking LaFontaine, pulled the syringe from its specially designed holster at the small of her back.

Then, without hesitating, she pressed the needle to his neck, finding the vein there, and pressed the plunger down. He stopped struggling within seconds, and she stood, breathing hard, but pleased with her handiwork. Effective. Brutal. Efficient. Her father would’ve been proud.

“Holy shit, Hollis. What the hell was in that?”

Laura had almost forgotten about Carmilla. She turned to see the vampire looking both trepidatious, and, to her surprise, more than a little impressed.

“Not to worry. Just a little cocktail of holy water and some other stuff one of our researchers developed. It won’t kill him at that dosage,” – was Carmilla looking disappointed? – “but _will_ keep him immobilized and in a fair amount of pain until it burns out, probably in a few hours.”

“Well, shit, cupcake. Looks like I underestimated you,” Carmilla said after a moment, looking at William’s prone body and then back at Laura, her eyes considering.

Laura felt unreasonably proud. “Looks like it.”

“Downside, though, is that he’s gonna get up in a few hours ready to kill both of us. Or go running to Mother.”

“…Ah.”

“So we should probably leave,” Carmilla concluded.

“But we’re not done talking!” Laura protested.

“Then let’s go somewhere else before another of my clan decides to show up!” Carmilla said sharply.

They dragged William’s body to a small copse of trees, then unceremoniously covered him in leaves until he was mostly concealed and not likely to be found by some overly adventurous jogger.

Then, they got the hell out of dodge.

“Where are we going?” Carmilla asked as they ran through the park.

“The compound.” Laura responded as she dodged an elderly couple.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“No.”

“Love the confidence, sundance.”

They burst through the entrance of the park, and Danny sprang up, looking at first anxious, and then flabbergasted when she saw Carmilla with Laura. When they didn’t stop, she ran to catch up with them, sending an alarmed look towards Laura.

Laura just shook her head. “I’ll explain at the compound.”

Danny’s eyes bulged, but to her credit she didn’t immediately turn and stake Carmilla. “Oh, this better be good, Laura.”

Carmilla sneered. “Do you two always engage in witty banter during the getaway?”

“Shut it, Karnstein.”

“You know I can smell the wet dog on you, right, Lawrence?”

Laura groaned. Forget William; she was somehow going to have keep _Danny_ from killing Carmilla. She had a feeling things had just gotten a lot more complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Laura. Stuck between the dog friend and the cat semi-enemy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter of a chapter this time around, also heavy on the dialogue...but sets things up for some interesting things in the future, heh.

They ran for several more minutes before Danny finally pulled them to a halt. “Hey, guys, guys! Wait! Time out for a minute, seriously.”

They stood, catching their breaths for a moment (well, Laura did; Carmilla was irritatingly untouched by their escape from the park and looked annoyed by the humans’ need for continued respiration) before Danny spoke up again. “Okay, seriously, what the hell is going on?”

Laura and Carmilla exchanged glances (much to Danny’s irritation), Carmilla shrugging dismissively. Laura then gave Danny the highlights of their meeting in the park - Carmilla’s mother acting weird, her involvement in Anna Hollis’ death, and their mutual interest in her research - before attempting to gloss over the surprise visit from Will.

“...and then Carmilla’s brother came by and tried to eat me, but I totally took care of it-”

Danny was having none of it. “He _what_? Wait, what?!”

Carmilla, who had been growing increasingly antsy, lost her patience. “What’s so hard to get, gingersnap? My rat of a brother followed me to the park, the cupcake here kicked his ass. I have to admit, it was very satisfying to watch.”

Laura was unreasonably pleased by the compliment. “Well, thanks, but I really have to thank LaF for that immobilizer.”

“If you kicked his ass, why are we running?” Danny said, perturbed.

“Because whatever she injected him with isn’t going to last forever, and we have more to discuss,” Carmilla answered.

Danny glared. “Wasn’t asking you, dead girl.”

“I’m not even sure why you’re here, dog breath.”

“ _What_ did you just call me-”

“Guys! We really don’t have time for this. We need to get to the compound. I have to show Carmilla Mom’s notes,” Laura cut in.

“The compound? Right, because the watch is really going to let Carmilla Karnstein just stroll in, maybe even offer her a chilled blood bag!” Danny snapped.

“I could totally go for that,” Carmilla offered, a smirk appearing on her lips.

“I swear to god, Karnstein-”

“Danny! The watch is looking for vampires, yes, but they don’t even know what the Karnstein clan’s leaders look like. They’re expecting attack groups, not harmless, nice nineteen year old Carmilla accompanied by her friends - us,” Laura said.

“Harmless? _Nice_?” Danny said dubiously.

They both turned to look Carmilla.

“What? Do you need my fervent assurances or something?” she said, unamused.

“That...would actually be nice, yeah,” Laura replied.

“Then yes, I assure you that I can get through your watch’s defenses without tearing anyone’s throats out. Or eating anyone.”

Danny looked pointedly at Laura. “Wow. I feel so much better now.”

Laura sighed.

* * *

“Okay, just act natural.”

“Do you _really_ want me to act as my nature demands?”

“...On second thought, act unnaturally. Act as human as possible.”

“That’s what I thought, creampuff.”

Despite Danny’s misgivings, they made their way through the gates and the watch without incident, and were soon speed walking towards the labs.

“So this....LaFontaine, was it? They’ve been helping you with your research?” Carmilla asked as they made their way.

“What little’s gotten done, yeah,” Laura answered.

“And they made that charming mixture that took out dear William so satisfyingly?”

Laura nodded.

“Well then. I think I’d like to shake their hand.”

Behind them, Danny rolled her eyes, wondering just how quickly they could get this interloper out of the compound.

When they reached the labs, Laura fingerprinting them in, Carmilla strode in confidently, taking in the space with raised eyebrows.

“So this is how the houses spend their time and money?”

“Careful, vampire. Most of the stuff in this room is designed to kill you,” Danny responded.

“I’m shaking in my boots, Lawrence, really,” Carmilla said dryly.

“Lawrence! Are you threatening people in my lab again?”

They turned to see LaFontaine striding from their corner of the lab, grease smeared across their face and welding goggles pushed up onto their forehead.

“Not anyone who doesn’t deserve it,” Danny coolly replied, and LaFontaine turned to see who she was referring to, only to pale abruptly upon seeing Carmilla.

“Woah, okay, um so Laura, you do know you brought a vampire with you, right? To the heart of the compound?” they stuttered out, edging back towards their workbench, where a heavy rifle lay, parts sitting around it.

The vampire in question was examining her fingernails, looking bored.

Laura reached out placatingly. “Yeah, I know. It’s kind of a long story but basically we all have a mutual interest in Mom’s research. Carmilla thinks her mother is planning something.”

“Planning something? And wait, Carmilla? As in _Karnstein_?"

Laura laughed a bit nervously. “The one and only. LaF, Carmilla. Carmilla, LaF. But I’m sure she can explain the situation better than I can. Carmilla?”

She looked up from her examination of her nails to see them all staring at her expectantly. Taking in the encouraging nod from Laura, she sighed and began.

“My mother is not the...softest person. She’s many centuries older, far older than myself, and considers herself far above humans, in intellect and in general worth. Not surprisingly, she scorns most of the other clans for signing the Treaty. You may remember that the Karnstein clan was the one of the last holdouts.”

They nodded.

“We only signed under duress from the other clans, and she still loathes most of them for it. If she had her way humans would still be under the thumb of vampires and we would have crushed the hunters a century ago,” she said.

“No offense,” she added, seeing their affronted looks. “But knowing all this, and hearing some of the things she’s been saying...well, I think she’s up to something. Something that will be very bad for all sides.”

“Which brings me to Mom’s notes,” Laura said. “LaF and I have been going through them, but it’s pretty slow going since, you know, none of us speak ancient Sumerian.”

“I do,” Carmilla offered.

They paused for a moment. Then, “You speak Sumerian?” Laura said.

Carmilla shrugged. “Eh, 1871 was a dull year.”

“Wait, this is great!” Laura said excitedly. “This could totally speed up our work!”

She ran to LaFontaine’s workbench and typed at the laptop there before bringing it to Carmilla.

“LaF and I have scanned some of Mom’s notes. Can you make any sense of this?”

Carmilla took the laptop and peered at the scanned pages present on the screen. “Hmm...lots of mentions to a necessary offering...excuse me, a ‘ _sizeable_ and necessary offering’...references to the giving up of souls...and, hello, something about a Sacrifice, capital ‘S.’”

“Yeah, we saw the mention of a sacrifice, but didn’t know what it was about,” LaFontaine said.

The vampire stared at the screen some more before shaking her head. “Mmm, it doesn’t say here.” She looked up at Laura. “Are there any more notes?”

Laura laughed. “Uh, yeah. Like journals more. Hundreds of pages.”  
  
Carmilla stared in dismay. “Hundreds? That’ll take days!”

“Yeah, kinda what we’ve been dealing with here.”

The vampire sighed. “I guess there’s nothing for it, then. I need to head back soon, before anyone wonders where I am.”

“But the notes-”

“Which means I’ll just have to come again. There’s no way I can take the notes to the estate - too risky to have them there.”

“Wait. You’re going to come here? _Again_?” Danny asked.

“Did I set your heart all aflutter, Lawrence?” Carmilla sneered.

Laura had lost patience for the snark. “Carmilla, are you sure you’ll be able to get away that often?”

“I’ll do what’s needed,” she responded coolly.

“Well, then...great,” Laura responded, a little taken aback by how quickly plans had taken shape. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I guess you will. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get out of here.”

Danny rose. “I’ll see you out.”

Carmilla smirked. “Don’t trust me to get out on my own, gingersnap?”

“More like I don’t trust you in general.”

“The sweet things you say.”

They continued to bicker as they left, leaving Laura and LaFontaine in the suddenly quiet lab.

“So...wow,” Laura said after a moment.

“You’re telling me,” the scientist responded, looking a little dazed. “Talk about a lucky break, huh?”

“Yeah, jeez. I mean, I can’t believe she knows Sumerian! She really knows her stuff!”

They looked at her a little strangely. “Uh yeah...I guess she does.”

Laura caught her look. “What? What is it?”

“Uh...nothing,” they responded after a moment. “Just, be careful, okay?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I mean, it’s great that Carmilla and you have a common cause, and that she’s helping...but she’s still a vampire. She’s still from the Karnstein clan,” they said.

“I know that,” Laura replied, affronted. “What, you think I’m going to, like, compromise myself? I know what’s important, LaF.”

“Yeah, I know you do,” LaFontaine said, though they looked a tad unconvinced. “I just think the next couple of days are going to be pretty interesting.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love LaF, ever the voice of reason.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a longer chapter to make up for the brevity of the previous one. Some Things of Note happen. Enjoy!

True to her word, Carmilla returned the next day, hovering near the gates during the morning watch until Laura spied her with her rifle scope and hurriedly excused herself from the battlements and ushered her in, taking pains to dodge the searching eyes of the watch. Laura had woken up that morning in a panic, as she remembered that they had not set a time to meet the day before, and she had no way of reaching her. The possibility that the vampire may arrive during someone else’s watch – with some green hunter noticing her and overreacting – kept her as vigilant she’d been yesterday, sweeping the grounds with her scope twice as often as usual.

Arriving at the gates in record time, Laura grasped Carmilla by the elbow and steered her in, tension stiffening her shoulders.

“ _This_ is your stealthy arrival?” she asked through a painfully fake smile.

The other girl shrugged. “It occurred to me that we more or less failed to set up a time to meet, cupcake, so I showed when I knew you’d be watching. You’re welcome.”

“I thought vampires hated the morning.”

“All the more reason for someone trying to act as non-immortal as possible to come at this time, wouldn’t you say?”

Laura gave a grudging nod – the vampire had a point – and directed her to the lab, leaving her with a small mountain of yet-to-be-deciphered notebooks and a slightly dismayed expression. Seeing Carmilla settled for the time being, she returned to the watch with haste, smiling awkwardly at Kirsch and muttering something about “female problems” in a calculated move to ensure he would not inquire further (though if she remembered correctly, the man actually knew an almost weird amount about female hygiene products, as she had found out after a spectacularly strange conversation with him on a particularly boring morning on the battlements).

To her dismay, however, instead of backing off, the tall man smiled at her conspiratorially and wiggled his eyebrows.

"...What are you doing, Kirsch?"

"Saw you with that punk hottie. Nice going. _Very_ hot."

"I'm sorry?" She replied weakly, her heart racing.

"I didn't know you were with someone, Hollis. She is _smokin_ '."

"That's...nice, Kirsch, but that's just an, um, friend of mine." 

The correction did nothing to deflate him; rather, the velocity of his wiggling eyebrows only seemed to increase.

"A friend. Right. I got you, Hollis. Bros recognize bros."

"Um...okay," Laura responded, deciding as she so often did with Kirsch that taking the path of least resistance was the better option.

This time especially, going with Kirsch's overactive imagination was far preferable to him making other, more serious inquiries, so she made no further protests.

The knowledge that the lieutenant of the Karnstein clan was in the compound, in the _labs_ , for heaven’s sake – and even worse, she’d let her in – kept her wide eyed and alert the rest of the patrol, Kirsch's insinuations notwithstanding. When 9 AM finally rolled around, she forced herself to calmly exit the battlements and return her rifle to the armory, lest she arouse any more suspicion by leaving in a hurry like she’d done yesterday.

Finally, when she deemed her performance satisfactory, she sped walked to the labs, a bit anxious about what she may find (i.e., that LaFontaine had decided that having a live vampire in the labs was too great of an opportunity to pass up, as they were always eager for test subjects for the various concoctions they were developing).

She burst through the doors, fully ready to pry apart the syringe-wielding scientist and the vampire, but stopped short in surprise at the scene in front of her. Carmilla and LaFontaine were sitting around the notebook-strewn table, and instead of fighting to the death (or undeath, in Carmilla’s case), seemed to instead be in the middle of a spirited debate about the proper translation of a Sumerian phrase, complete with gesticulations and much shaking of heads.

“I’m telling you, Karnstein, these glyphs here are clearly saying that the god is biggest at the winter solstice. The construction of the sentence is totally clear.”  

Carmilla scoffed. “The Sumerian language doesn’t even use the structure of sentences as we know them, so your argument is invalid. Anyway, it’s saying that the god is _strongest_ at the solstice, not the biggest. Do deities even change size?”

“They’re deities. That’s kind of the whole point-”

Laura decided it was probably a good time to jump in. “Heyyy guys, what are we discussing?”

“Your scientist here thinks they know Sumerian better than me, despite my having studied it for, oh, only the last century or so,” Carmilla said, rolling her eyes.

LaFontaine reddened a bit, saying hotly, “I’m not questioning your knowledge of the language, I’m just saying that the glyphs really seem to be suggesting-”

Carmilla sighed loudly. “I know what you’ve been suggesting, and I’m telling you that it’s simply an incorrect interpretation.”

“Um, LaF, weren’t you telling me once that many of the same glyphs can mean different things depending on context?” Laura asked tentatively.

They both stopped and turned to look at her, before looking at each other.

“I...did say that, yeah,” LaFontaine said grudgingly.

 “She’s right, you know. Context is key,” Carmilla said, sounding rather impressed.

LaFontaine nodded reluctantly as Laura continued her questioning.

“And also, wait, Carmilla, you studied Sumerian for an entire _century_?”

The vampire paused, then said, “Well, yes. More or less. I was…detained for several decades at the beginning of the 20th century, but kept up with it before and after.”

Laura was about to question further (because vague mentions of detainment simply begged for further inquiry), but seeing the shadow fall over Carmilla’s face hesitated and changed the subject instead.

“So what are you guys talking about, anyway?”

Carmilla gestured to the laptop open in front of the two of them. “LaFontaine showed me the photos you took of the scroll from when you, ah, visited the other night. We were discussing the inscription.”

Laura winced. “Er, right. Sorry about that.”

Carmilla shrugged. “It was amusing seeing you there, cupcake. And you brought the scroll to my attention, so it was worthwhile.”

“Glad to hear it.”

An awkward silence descended on them for a moment, broken only with the sound of LaFontaine clearing their throat.

“Well, this was fun, but I really should get back to my actual work. I’m pretty close with that rifle…”

“Great! Sounds great,” Laura said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.

The scientist shot her a strange look, but still left for their corner of the lab, leaving her alone with Carmilla.

“So…I guess we better keep going, then?”

The vampire glanced at the notebooks piled in front of them.

“If we want to finish before I hit 400, then we better.”

The next three weeks saw frequent visits of the vampire to the Hollis compound; the two quickly worked out a preferable plan of visiting then Carmilla simply appearing at the front gates and hoping for the best, and Laura now ushered her in through a side gate after darkness fell. After the first week, where Laura had been chronically anxious about Will trying to get some payback, Carmilla mentioned offhandedly that he seemed to be laying low for the time being (“Between you and me, creampuff, I think the little rat’s too humiliated about getting his ass handed to him by a human to tell anyone, which works just fine for me.”)

Going through the notebooks was a slow, grueling process; Anna Hollis had written in a dense and tricky shorthand, and making sense of it along with the frequent passages in Sumerian could often take hours.

To add the problem, the journals were not all strictly about her research into the Karnstein clan’s dealings, and many also detailed her observations about the clans in general, their relations with the hunter houses, and even some personal musings about her life and family (the last subject had made for several awkward moments as Laura excused herself to go dry her eyes as she read about her mother’s hopes and fears for her, leaving Carmilla to awkwardly offer her a tissue upon her return).

It was all very interesting – Laura’s mother had been brilliant, and it showed clearly through her writing – but made their task even more time-consuming than it might have been. They couldn’t afford to skip anything, lest they skip some crucially important passage, and so they painstakingly leafed page by page through every journal, making notes whenever they saw something possibly related to the Karnstein clan or the Sumerian sacrifice.

An unexpected development, but one that Laura perhaps should have seen coming, was that she was now spending more than a little time with Carmilla Karnstein. More alarming, however: she didn’t hate it. Despite the vampire’s mountain of sarcasm and unfortunate tendency of taking pleasure in antagonizing certain people (read: Danny), she could also be quite funny, and always patiently explained the Sumerian they encountered, no matter how many hours they’d been going through the notes.

She was also clearly quite intelligent, and often paused in their search to read some interesting passage she’d found, making thoughtful observations of her own and sometimes even engaging Laura in debates (this happened, more often than not, upon encountering some argument Laura’s mom had made about how relations between the hunter houses and vampire clans should develop going forward; Carmilla, interestingly enough, usually advocated for friendlier terms between the two parties, while Laura – like most hunters – took a harder line, still fundamentally untrusting of the clans).

Regardless of her unchanged opinions of the clans as a whole – they were after all, searching for proof of a destructive and treacherous plan being orchestrated by the head of one – Laura had to admit (even if only to herself, and grudgingly at that) that her feelings for the other girl were no longer those of just plain dislike or mistrust. Rather, she had grown to hold a certain amount of respect for Carmilla, and when she found herself laughing at whatever sarcastic thing the other girl had said, thought she may even like her. (As a friend, of course. Like her in a strictly platonic, friendly way. She didn’t hate her, anyway.)

One evening, Carmilla arrived at the labs (having been escorted by LaFontaine, for once) to find Laura already hard at work, staring intently at a journal and making notations in her own notebook. This wasn’t particularly out of the ordinary, of course, but what _was_ new were the two mugs of what appeared to be hot chocolate sitting on the table. Stepping closer, she inspected one, then looked to the girl, who was staring so hard at a journal Carmilla half expected to see smoke rising from the pages.

“Hey, cupcake. What’s this?”

Laura glanced at the mug, then at the vampire, before shrugging with forced nonchalance. “Oh, well, we’ve been working pretty late hours lately, and I don’t know about you but I thought some hot chocolate might help things along.”

Carmilla raised an eyebrow. “I see. Well…thanks.”

Picking up the mug, she took a sip, only to nearly spit it back up. “What the- does this have blood in it?!”

Laura was looking at her worriedly. “I- yeah, I’m sorry, I thought you might, uh, like it? We usually keep blood bags on hand in the med bay, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, like, mock you or anything-”

Carmilla cut her off before she talked herself into an all-out panic. “No, uh, it was very, um, thoughtful. I liked it?” She took another sip. “I like it. I just- I’d have thought the idea would be disgusting to you.”

To her surprise, Laura looked taken aback. “Why would it be disgusting to me?”

Carmilla looked at her askance, and Laura colored before saying, “Okay, yeah, I’m not overly fond of vampires, but that’s because of all the bad blood – sorry, bad word choice – between us. Vampires have pulled a lot really messed up stuff over the decades. But the fact that you have to drink blood to survive doesn’t make you disgusting. It’s just one part of you.” She laughed lightly. “I mean, it’s not like you’re a monster or something.”

Carmilla stared at her unblinkingly for a long moment. Just as Laura was getting worried again, she abruptly cleared her throat and said (was her voice a bit rough?), “That’s…very kind of you to say, Laura. Thank you.”

Laura smiled, though she looked a bit confused. “Well, you’re welcome, but I’m not really saying anything that revolutionary.”

The vampire returned the smile, albeit a bit crookedly. “You’d be surprised.”

Then, she sat down and reached for a journal, pausing only to take a long sip as Laura watched.

They worked in relative silence for a couple more hours, the silence only broken by the occasional scratching of pencils and sipping of hot chocolate. Finally, Carmilla cleared her throat, pointing at a passage in Sumerian.

“See this, here? It’s talking about life in ancient Sumer. The civilization was actually quite advanced for its time, and some of the trades and practices are discussed. It’s actually pretty interesting.”

Laura eyed the glyphs, which remained stubbornly incomprehensible. “Wow, you got all that from those couple of lines? You must beyond fluent.”

Carmilla shrugged. “Well, like I said, cupcake, I’ve had more than a couple decades to practice.”

“Right. Except for…”

The vampire raised an eyebrow. “Except for?”

“Except for those couple of decades where you were, uh, detained.”

Carmilla stared at her, her expression unreadable. “Right.”

Laura stared back, trying to work up the courage to continue her questioning, but the strength of Carmilla’s gaze made her lose her nerve. She looked away, nervously toying with her pencil.

“There was a girl.”

Laura’s head snapped back to Carmilla, who was staring into her empty mug, her eyes sad.

“A girl?”

“It was around 1880,” the vampire said, her voice soft. “The war between the clans and the hunters was as its peak. In the midst of it all, I met a girl. Ell. She was a servant at our estate, a human.”

Laura watched her, unsure of what to say.

Carmilla continued. “Even though she was surrounded by people she could rightly consider enemies, she was always so optimistic, so kind. I found myself drawn to her. We fell in love, right under my mother’s nose.”

A sense of foreboding was slowly building in Laura’s chest.

“We decided that we would run away together, and leave the war and the estate behind. But that night, everything fell apart.” Carmilla paused for a moment, then spoke again, her voice almost monotone. “When I went to where we were supposed to meet, Ell was there. And my mother.”

“In my mother’s hands was a bag, Ell’s satchel. As I watched, she overturned it, and several vials of what could only be poison fell and shattered.”

Laura closed her eyes, the implication behind the words becoming clear.

“Ell was a hunter, and had been planted in the estate as a sleeper agent, designed to get close to me. She had been planning to kill me as soon as we left the estate.”

“Carmilla, I-”

The girl continued as if Laura had not spoken. “But Mother had been on to her, and trapped her. She told Ell to tell me what she really thought of me.” She took a breath. “And Ell told me, in the most hateful voice, that I was a monster, and that I deserved what she had been planning, that I would do no good in the world and was no good to anyone.”

Oh, god. Laura remembered her thoughtless words from earlier and cringed.

“Then, Mother killed her before my eyes. As punishment, she then sealed me in a coffin filled with blood and buried it below the earth. I remained there for sixty years, until the Second World War broke out and the explosions rent the earth and freed me from my prison.”

Laura reached out then, gently placing her hand on Carmilla’s arm.

“The coffin is always with me, now. As are Ell’s words. So I’ve just tried to live day to day since then. That is, until…” She finally looked up from her mug, at Laura.

Laura found her voice. “Until now?”

“Until now.”

They sat in silence for a few beats. Laura finally said, her voice shaking, “I don’t know what to say. There’s no way I can imagine what you’ve been through.”

“You’re working with me. We’re doing something important,” Carmilla said. “That’s enough.”

Laura smiled, but quickly grew serious once more. “Carmilla…you should know, what I said earlier. I meant it. You’re not a monster.”

Carmilla smiled a bit tremulously. “You’re not so bad yourself, cupcake.”

After that evening there was a new understanding between them. Laura realized that much of what Carmilla said about the importance of improved relations between the houses and the clans was informed by her experiences, and though Laura didn’t always agree she had a new appreciation for what the vampire had endured and where she was coming from – and felt closer to her all the time.

They continued this way for several more days, Carmilla arriving every evening to a mug of blood-spiked hot chocolate and a slowly dwindling pile of journals. The girls had managed to piece together some more details of the sacrifice, and now knew that it called for the “offering of no less than eight score souls, gathered together and taken in the appropriate manner,” as one passage had put it.

Where Carmilla’s mother was going to get 160 lives together from, they didn’t know; Carmilla kept a close watch on all movement within the clan, and would have known if any of their warriors had suddenly engaged in mass kidnapping. Similarly, the hunter houses were always on the look out for sudden influxes of missing persons reports, but all had been quiet.

As for the “appropriate manner,” that also remained unclear; thus far, the notes had not shed any light on the matter, though they often made frustrating references to it as it were an obvious procedure. Needless to say, it had become a bit of a sore topic for both of them.  

They were getting dangerously close to the end of the journal collection and their collective wits when late one night, Carmilla finally caught a break as she paged through a small, unassuming journal, Laura fast asleep in the chair next to her.

“Death, doom, destruction to all those who incur the wrath of the god, et cetera, et cetera…good god, the Sumerians could be rather repetitive, couldn’t they? …Hello, what’s this?”

She straightened and looked the page more closely. “The sacrifice of the marked souls must be given up in the manner most appropriate to the god, that is, taken within the confines of the pentagram, with additional blood spilled at each point.”

Carmilla sat back slowly. A pentagram? How cliché. As if the Sumerians had been your run-of-the-mill cultists. But the blood spilled at each point…the outer circle of the pentagram shape…the 160 souls…these thoughts tickled something at the back of her mind, something just out of her reach. She furrowed her brow, thinking furiously. There was something about that shape, about that particular number… the realization jolted her wide awake, nearly causing her to upset her half-drunken mug of hot chocolate.

“Laura! Hey, Hollis, wake up!” she said, shaking the other girl awake.

Laura blinked slowly, then tensed and jumped out of her chair. “Carmilla! What, what is it? Are we under attack?!”

“No, no, nothing like that! But I know what it is! I know what the sacrifice is – and when!”

Laura gaped at her, her tired mind clearly still catching up. “You know…?”

“Yes! It’s the Assembly! God, how could I be so stupid? It’s been in front of me this entire time!”

“Okay, Carm, you’re going to have to break this down for me,” Laura said, looking lost.

Carmilla took a deep (if unnecessary) breath as she gathered her thoughts. “Okay, so as you know there are eight clans. And that we meet every year in a very formal, traditional gathering called the Assembly, hosted by one of the clans.”

Laura nodded. “Yes, and your clan is hosting it this year.”

“Right – which means Mother has been planning this for even longer than we thought. So the clans gather at the Assembly, but what you may not know is that the non-hosting clans only send a representative delegation.”

“Okay…?”

“The delegations are made up of each of the clans’ leaders, lieutenants, and most powerful warriors. And each delegation is made up of _twenty people_.”

She stared expectantly at Laura, obviously waiting for a reaction. Laura looked back at her, clearly still unsure of where she was going.

“Laura, the sacrifice calls for 160 souls, remember?”

Laura blinked once. Twice. Then, her eyes widened. “You don’t think…?”

Carmilla nodded gravely. “I absolutely do. Mother is going to use the Assembly as the sacrifice. She’s going to wipe out the vampire clans.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Between you and me, Carmilla's mom sounds like a real piece of work.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! This'll be my last update before school starts back up (farewell, winter break, we hardly knew ye), but I fully hope to have this story wrapped up by the middle of next week or so. 
> 
> Also, the end of this chapter is a tad...heavy. So yeah. Enjoy!

Carmilla’s declaration hung in the air between them for a heavy moment. Finally, Laura found her voice.

“But doesn’t the sacrifice call for, you know, _lives_? Vampires are kinda famous for lacking that trait, last time I checked.”

Carmilla shook her head. “I think the use of ‘souls’ instead of ‘lives’ was very purposeful. Vampires may have lost their lives and their humanity, but they are still people. They still have souls.”

“I see…” Another thought occurred to her. “Wait – she would sacrifice her _own clan_?”

“You don’t know my mother. She would see this as an opportunity to get rid of the twenty most useless members of our clan.”

“But the sacrifice calls for the souls to be given up within a pentagram, which as far as I know you don’t just have drawn, ready to lure dozens of vampires into.”

“Every clan has a hall specially meant for assemblies. Ours is housed in the Lustig Chapel. Traditionally, the stands are arranged in a perfect circle – that’s your outer shape already.”

“And the inner star?”

“Mother has been carrying out renovations of the Chapel for the last year, supposedly in preparation for the Assembly. It wouldn’t be overly difficult to have the lines carved in and then concealed.”

“You’re sure about this? What would she even get out of decimating the other clans?”

“I’ve told you about how she disdains, even loathes the other clans. She finds them weak and scorns them for supposedly yielding to humans by signing the Treaty. She probably thinks they deserve it.” Carmilla shook her head grimly. “And the clans won’t be able to put up much of a fight after their leadership is destroyed. It won’t be pretty.”

Laura had begun to pace, her mind clearly racing. “So by sacrificing them, she not only successfully gets revenge, but also assumes the power of the god, which will make her insanely powerful. And then…”

“Then she’ll take out the only other group she hates even more than vampires,” Carmilla said, her voice solemn. “She’ll eliminate the hunter houses once and for all.”

They stared at each other, the enormity of the plan settling on them.

“We have to stop it, obviously,” Laura said after a moment.

“We do,” Carmilla said, standing. “But first, I have to tell the other clans. If we can keep them from coming to the Assembly, then that’ll stop the sacrifice before it’s even begun. Then we can take care of my mother.”

“That would make things a lot easier.”

“I should leave now,” Carmilla said. “It’ll take time to reach and convince all the various leaders. And we don’t have much time – the Assembly is a week from today.”

“Right, of course,” Laura said, leading her out of the lab.

They made their way back to the side gate of the compound, standing there for a moment.

“I’ll come back the day after tomorrow with updates, same time as usual. With any luck we can nip this in the bud,” Carmilla said finally.

“Good luck. Be careful,” Laura replied.

“Don’t get soft on me now, cupcake,” Carmilla responded, but her smirk was gentler than usual. “But I will.”

“Good. I’ve kinda…gotten used to our debates. Even if you’re usually wrong.”

Carmilla laughed lightly. “You’ll come around eventually.”

They looked at each other for a beat, before Laura surprised both of them by leaning in quickly and pecking Carmilla on the cheek. She flashed a smile at the wide-eyed vampire before waving and taking her leave, quickly disappearing into the compound. Carmilla stared after her, mouth a little open, a hand pressed to her cheek. Then, she smiled softly and stepped through the gate, disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.

* * *

Laura sat slumped in her camper chair on the battlements, a frown twisting her lips as she stared at the grounds, her rifle carelessly balanced across her knees. Her thermos sat at her feet, forgotten, the coffee long grown cold.

Last night she’d waited at the side gate for hours, but Carmilla had never shown. The vampire had the tendency to arrive a bit late – punctuality wasn’t one of her strong points – but she’d rarely come more than 45 minutes late to their rendezvous, and never failed to arrive altogether.

Laura had sat there for two hours, her breath misting in the rapidly cooling night air, before finally giving up and going inside, worry twisting in her chest. She’d lain awake in her bed for the rest of the night, half hoping for LaFontaine or even one of the night watch to burst in with the news that they’d caught an errant, sullen vampire hanging around the compound, but all remained stubbornly quiet. When dawn broke, she threw herself out of bed and headed to the morning watch, anxiety and sleeplessness combining to put her in a spectacularly bad temper.

Since then she’d sat on the battlements, silent and wearing a forbidding expression, but inside in turmoil. Where the hell was Carmilla? The Assembly was nearing ever closer and Laura had no idea if they were any nearer to putting a stop to Lilita Morgan’s plot. She had more than a few misgivings about the broody vampire’s prolonged absence, but didn’t know what could immediately be done.

She had no way of reaching Carmilla, as the stubborn vampire had never yielded to the 21st century and gotten a cell phone, and even if she’d had it probably would have been too risky to communicate with it. And it wasn’t as if she could just dial the landline at the Karnstein estate and ask to speak with Carmilla, if vampires even used landlines. “Oh, hi, Ms. Morgan, is Carmilla home? She’s grounded? Oh, you found out about our meddling? Well, that’s unfortunate. …So I guess she can’t come to the phone?” She snorted. If only.

The spark of levity went as quickly as it came, and she sighed, leaning her head back against the chair.

“What’s up, Hollis- oh, I know that face.”

She froze for a moment before forcing herself to face the ever chipper face of Brody Kirsch.

“Hey, Kirsch. What face is that,” she inquired dully.

“Girl problems, dude! What’s up, you and the punk hottie have a fight?”

She mentally counted to three, reminding herself that it was against regulations to beat another hunter over the head with a rifle.

“Uh…no, nothing like that, Kirsch. Just didn’t get much sleep last night.”

He frowned sympathetically, looking uncharacteristically serious.

“Aw, no need to front with me, Hollis. I don’t really know that girl but I’m always down to talk, bro to bro.”

Laura sighed. “That’s sweet, Kirsch, but there’s really nothing to talk about.”

He looked at her before nodding slowly. “Yeah, okay, if you say so-” he paused as he looked over her head, then quickly straightened to attention. “Mr. Hollis, sir!”

Laura turned to see William Hollis briskly walking towards them, a sober expression on his face. Reaching them, he waved away Kirsch’s attentions. “As you were, Kirsch.”

Kirsch smiled and relaxed, looking between the father and daughter. Finally, her father cleared his throat, giving Kirsch a meaningful look. For once, he got the message, straightening and adjusting his rifle.

“Uh…I guess I’ll go patrol over there.”

They watched him go, before Laura rose to meet her father, curious about his presence.

“Hey, Dad. Everything okay? Don’t see you coming up to the battlements that often.”

“Everything’s fine, sweetheart. We haven’t talked in a while, so I just thought I’d come by, see how you were.”

Laura raised her eyebrows doubtfully – her dad had never been that great of a liar, unlike her – and he smiled ruefully.

“Alright, alright, I also wanted to tell you to be extra attentive today.”

She straightened and studied him carefully. Did he know something about Carmilla? “Oh? Is something going on?” she asked.

“Nothing immediately dangerous, but we should all be on alert for the next couple of days. We’re seeing a large influx of vampires from other regions – the Karnstein clan is hosting that blasted Assembly this year, which means the town is going to be overrun with the bloodsuckers.”

Laura blinked at him as her mind worked furiously. Vampires were arriving – that could only mean that they had either disregarded to Carmilla’s warnings or, worse, had never received them. Carmilla hadn’t told any of them about her mother’s plans?

“Oh, right…I remember now. Have vampires from all seven of the other clans been spotted?”

He nodded approvingly at what he probably thought was her attention to detail. “Almost. Six have arrived, with reports coming in that the seventh is on its way, should be here tomorrow.”

Damn it. All seven of the other clans accounted for. There was no way all of them had ignored Carmilla. She swallowed the dread rising in her throat and smiled brightly at her father. “Don’t worry about it, Dad, we’re on it. I’ll arrange for some extra patrols in town.”

He nodded and dropped a kiss on her forehead before leaving. Laura waved, waiting until he had disappeared before letting the smile slip off her face, a grim frown taking its place. She sank back into the chair, letting her head rest against the cold, unforgiving stone of the battlements.

“Carmilla…where are you?”

* * *

Carmilla came to with a start, jerking against something. She immediately stopped moving as her head swam nauseously. When the dizziness subsided, she forced her eyes open, only to blink against a harsh white light shining in her face and making her skin prickle painfully.

Ignoring the stinging, she cracked them open again, determined to see where she was. Her hands were restrained, tied behind her, and she was bound to a chair, her ankles tied as well. Beyond the circle of light cast by the bright spotlight, the room was dark and damp, and after a moment she realized with a jolt that she was in the dungeons of her own home. The Karnstein estate. Oh, god. For once she’d prefer that she’d been caught by hunters. She feared them much less than her so-called family.

The last thing she remembered was returning to the estate, determined to reach the other clans’ leaders, and then hearing a voice so distinctively oily and malicious that it could only belong to her rat of a brother, turning, and then…nothing.

“Mother. She’s awake.”

Carmilla grimaced; she was really beginning to hate William’s voice. She squinted into the dark – her eyesight, usually easily able to see without light, had been impaired by the damaging light shining on her – and after a few moments was able to make out William’s figure.

He walked into view, smirking. “My, my. Seems like you’re in a bit of a bind, Kitty.”

She scowled. “What the hell is this, William?”

He shrugged, looking smug. “Well, after you and your little hunter friend pulled that stunt in the park-”

“You mean when you got your ass kicked by a human?” she interjected.

William glared, his smirk fading. “She played dirty,” he snapped. “That holy water spray, and whatever the hell was in that syringe. Hunter nonsense.”

“Seemed to work pretty well on you. It _was_ rather cathartic piling leaves on you and burying you from sight,” she said sweetly. “Tell me, how long did you lay there?”

He gritted his teeth – he had always been _so_ easy to rile up – before, to her surprise, abruptly relaxing, a sneer finding its way back onto his face. “Long enough, I’ll admit. But it doesn’t matter. Because you’re about to get yours.”

Carmilla stared at him, trying to conceal her stirrings of panic. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means, my dear child, that you’ve been very busy lately. William had a great deal to say about your recent activities.”

Carmilla’s mouth went dry. Oh, god, please, don’t let it be…

Lilita Morgan walked into view, her tall, blonde frame previously concealed in the shadows. Carmilla was unable to prevent her body from leaning away, the chair creaking, and her mother clucked her tongue.

“Now really, dear girl, it’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”

Carmilla tried to force the fear from her face. She wasn’t sure how well she succeeded. “Mother, what you’re doing…it’s insane. Killing the other clans’ leaders…”

“Those spineless cowards don’t deserve immortality,” her mother replied smoothly. “They gave up the privilege the instant they treated with those wretched, crawling cockroaches who call themselves hunters.”

“But I’ve found a way for them to redeem themselves,” she continued. “Their sacrifice will pave the way for new heights of power for our kind.”

“The few dozen you plan to let survive, you mean,” Carmilla spat.

A flash of anger passed over her mother’s face, but was just as quickly replaced by the eerie serenity that was her default. “The few who understand the glory of our kind…and what we can become.”

Carmilla flinched as her mother stepped towards her and brushed a hand through her hair, seemingly take no note of how Carmilla stiffened and turned away.

“I had hoped you would be one of those few, my dear, foolish girl,” her mother said in honeyed tones, “After all the effort I’ve put into saving you from yourself.”

The hand in her hair moved to caress her face; Carmilla tried to move away further, bile rising in her throat, but the bindings held her firmly. “But I’m afraid I simply can’t disregard your disobedience, darling. Threats to the sacrifice cannot be tolerated.”

“So then kill me,” Carmilla said bitterly. “Like you killed Ell.”

The hand on her face paused and then withdrew as her mother stared at her, pity in her eyes. “Ell? That treacherous creature? You can’t mean to say you’re still hung up on the girl. She was going to kill you, dear child, and no one decides your fate but _me_.”

“Maybe I deserved to die,” Carmilla replied. “Maybe we all do, for the things we’ve done.”

Her mother laughed, an unsettling sound that sent chills down Carmilla’s spine. “Goodness, you _have_ been spending too much time with hunters lately, haven’t you? But no, darling, I don’t plan to kill you.” She gestured at someone behind Carmilla. “No, I simply wish to remind you of what you are…and what happens when you try to forget it.”

The squeals of un-oiled wheels drew Carmilla’s attention, and she watched warily as two burly men pushed a cart into view. There was something on it, dark and large, and she squinted at it confusedly until realization struck. Eyes widening in horror, she could no longer repress the panic, and it overcame her as she looked between the coffin and her mother.

“No, please– mother– don’t do this, I’ll be good, mother, please-”

“William,” her mother said sharply. “Take her.”

Her brother stepped forward from where he had been gleefully watching the proceedings, cutting just enough of the ties to free her from the chair. Carmilla immediately lashed out against him, but the bonds on her wrists and ankles, combined with a sudden wave of dizziness – how many days had it been since she’d fed? – caused her to stumble, and he easily grabbed her. He nodded at the men, and one came forward to help William pick her up while the other opened the coffin.

Immediately, the metallic smell of blood filled the room, sharp enough to restore Carmilla to some of her senses, and she struggled weakly against the hands carrying her.

“Mother– please, no, please–”   

“This is for the best, dear. You’ll see that some day.”

The smell of blood grew overpowering as she was lowered into the coffin, the liquid immediately soaking into her clothing and rising to cover her limbs.

She sobbed brokenly as the lid was swung shut, struggling futilely against her bonds. The darkness was back and with it all the horror she had struggled against for so many years, the hope and beginnings of happiness that had begun to take root wiped away in the endless black.

Sucking in the last breath of air she would get from the room, Carmilla screamed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D:


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for that cliffhanger last chapter (well, not really, lol)! Things are happening, y'all.

Danny cautiously entered the shooting range, the rat-a-tat of gunfire uncomfortably loud without the protective muffs she’d declined, much to the attendant’s displeasure. She walked down the aisle – hunters standing at booths to either side of her, shooting at paper targets – towards a pair of closed double doors, the “IN USE” sign lit in an ominous red above them.

When she’d asked the attendant for Laura, he’d been less than enthused. “Miss Hollis is in the target room. She completely ignored the mile-long waiting list and demanded the keys!”

Danny had winced. Laura was always up for a spar in the training rooms, but when in a true temper the target room at the end of the shooting range was the only place that would suit.

Now, she stepped to the doors and listened closely, waiting for the sound of bullets firing to pause before entering.

Laura stood with her back to her, a rifle held aloft in one hand while rows of targets arranged themselves before her. Rather than interrupt her, Danny opted to lean against the wall and hope that Laura would burn the worst of whatever was bothering her out first.

The targets – plain figures, featureless but for fangs (which Danny found a little tacky, personally) – whirred into place and were still, all in different positions and distances from Laura. A loud buzzer sounded, and Danny braced herself as the targets blurred into motion, all at different speeds and angles, moving in and out of view at speeds approaching those of actual vampires.

The attendant hadn’t been far off when he’d mentioned the “mile-long” waiting list; the immense popularity of the target room was easy to understand. As Laura had been reminded in the park, hunters were discouraged from hand-to-hand fighting whenever possible, and thus sharpshooting had quickly become an important tool in their skill set; after all, it was always preferable to fight enemies who were faster, stronger, and armed with a very sharp set of fangs from a distance. And so the target room, with its array of inhumanly fast targets, had become one of the most sought-out training rooms in the compound, as it provided hunters a place to grow accustomed to the speed of their foes and learn how to react.

Laura, it quickly became clear, was more than just accustomed.

She watched the targets for a short moment, then hoisted the rifle to her shoulder in a single smooth motion and began firing. Not a bullet was wasted; each found a target, the figure folding and disappearing from view. A screen on the wall flashed the time left; when the time ran out, the simulation ended, and if any targets remained, the implication – you’ve failed, and also are about to die – was clear.

But it didn’t seem that Laura would have any such problems; she’d always been good at channeling her fury into firearms, and she fired now with cool confidence. The targets disappeared with startling speed, and the screen showed an impressive four seconds still remaining when all had been picked off. The buzzer sounded again, and Laura lowered her rifle, breathing hard. She stared at the empty rows, and then finally turned to meet Danny, her face a little worryingly impassive for someone who’d just spend the last minute blazing her way through fifteen vampire targets with a rifle.

“Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” Danny replied. “Do you need to beat up on some more targets or should I be worried?”

Laura smiled, but it failed to reach her eyes. “No, I’m good.”

“Right,” Danny said slowly. “And any reason you’re here in the first place? The attendant out there was about to have a stroke about you cutting the line.”

“I needed to think,” Laura said, slinging her rifle over her shoulder. “The Assembly’s tomorrow night. There’s no time left.”

Danny stared at her, but before she could formulate a response the buzzer sounded for a third time, and the targets reappeared, looking a little worse for the wear. The screen flashed a new number, signifying how many targets Laura had successfully shot through the heart, the Achilles’ heel of all vampires – the labs had found that bullets, when treated with holy water, more or less acted like stakes if fired straight at the heart. They both read the bold “12 out of 15” and Laura shook her head.

“Dang it,” she said, looking annoyed. “Not good enough. Kirsch was always the better shot, much as I hate to admit it. I’m probably going to have to ask him, too.”

Oh, man. Danny _really_ didn’t like where this was going. “Ask him what?” she said cautiously.

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Laura, ask him _what_?”

Laura looked at her, her face filled with steely resolve. “To help me rescue Carmilla. And storm the Karnstein estate, defeat her mom, and stop a demonic sacrifice that otherwise will take out the vampire clans and then us.”

Danny briefly wondered if it was possible for healthy twenty year olds to die from spontaneous heart failure.

“I _told_ you you weren’t going to like it.”

* * *

 “Jeez, Hollis, you don’t do things by halves, do you?” LaFontaine said, looking impressed.

After Danny had recovered from her shock-induced black out, they had made their way to the labs at Laura’s behest, the girl insisting that they would need LaFontaine for the fight to come (the fight, Danny had noted sourly, that she hadn’t even _agreed_ to).

“I mean, assaulting the Karnstein estate?” the scientist continued. “Crashing the Assembly? That’s a little different than you sneaking into a party and bantering with Carmilla Karnstein. Speaking of which…” they hesitated, then said, “How do we know Carmilla really _is_ in trouble? What if she never planned to come back and has been, you know, playing us the whole time?”

Seeing Laura’s stricken expression, they hastily said, “I mean, she could totally be in trouble, but we have to at least consider the possibility.”  
  
Danny nodded emphatically. “Laura, she’s a Karnstein. It’s her own mother who’s planning this whole sacrifice thing!”

“Her mother is a monster!” Laura burst out. “The things she’s done to Carmilla…Carmilla would never help her. Especially for something like this.”

“But even if she wasn’t in trouble, the vampire clans still arrived for the Assembly,” she added uncomfortably, feeling the weight of their stares. “We have to do something. If we don’t, they’ll be wiped out – and we’ll be next!”

“Okay, I get that, but Laura…a full on assault of the estate? Even if we had the full force of both our houses behind us I still wouldn’t like our chances,” Danny said, looking rather sick at the thought. “We’re assassins and spies – _not_ foot soldiers – for a reason. They’ll eat us alive – literally.”

Laura nodded. “You’re right. Which is why I never planned to attack the estate. Just take out enough of the guards to sneak in. That’s actually kind of where I was hoping you might come in, what with your, ah, _specialized_ skills.”

For the first time, Danny smiled. If her canines were a little sharper that normal, no one said anything. “Specialized skills, huh? Well, I’ll see if I can bring some of my cousins along, in that case.”

Laura hesitated, looking torn. “Danny, you don’t have to, I’d understand if you didn’t want to drag your house into this…”

“Are you kidding? They’d kill me if they found out I went to the freakin’ _Karnstein estate_ and didn’t bring any of them along. I wasn’t kidding about the whole fistfight in an alley thing.”

“I’m coming too,” LaFontaine interjected. “No way I’m letting you two handle this alone. And I have a few new things I’ve been working on that I wouldn’t mind testing on live subjects. Like…” they hoisted the heavy rifle that had been sitting on their workbench in various states of completion for the past several weeks and flicked several switches on its side. It powered up with a whirring noise, and the scientist aimed it at a stool by the table. There was a flash of purple light, a minor combustion, and when the smoke cleared a pile of charred and twisted metal lay scattered where the stool had once stood. “…Like this.”

LaFontaine looked up to see Laura and Danny’s matching sets of wide eyes and grinned. “Looks like the pulse rifle is working okay, huh?”

Laura and Danny spent the next several hours going over blueprints and satellite images of the Karnstein estate that House Hollis had acquired over the last couple of decades, arguing over the best point of entry and the most efficient way of dividing their forces, such as they were. The Lustig Chapel, where the Assembly would be held, was housed on the estate’s expansive grounds, not far from the palatial mansion Laura had crashed. LaFontaine, meanwhile, pored over the journal that had given Carmilla her realization, looking for any more useful information about the sacrifice.

“Danny, I’m telling you, if you and your cousins can keep everything quiet outside-”

“And let you and the mad scientist rush the Chapel alone?! Not a chance.”

“We don’t really have a choice,” Laura pointed out, aggravated.

“Laura, it’s way too dangerous. This isn’t supposed to be a suicide mission, for god’s sake,” Danny retorted hotly. “We need more people.”

“Hey, hey, guys,” LaFontaine said suddenly, looking up from the journal. “I think our little adventure just got a little bit more complicated.”

“Of course it did,” Danny sighed. “Because why not pour more certain death on top of already certain death?”

Laura rolled her eyes. “What is it, LaF?”

“You know what Carmilla was saying about the sacrifice, about it needing additional blood spilled at each point of the star of the pentagram?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, additional means that her mom is going to need five extra people to be sacrificed beyond the 160 vampires she’s already gotten, uh, signed up.”

“Okay, well, she’ll probably just nab five of her clan members she likes the least,” Laura said. “Carmilla made it pretty clear that her mother has no qualms about that kind of thing.”

“Normally I’d agree, but vampires don’t exactly have that much blood to spare,” LaFontaine said, shaking their head. “No, I think Lilita Morgan found five other people to ‘volunteer.’ Human people.”

“But the houses keep a close eye out for exactly that kind of thing!” Danny protested.

“No, Danny, LaF may be right,” Laura said slowly. “We keep an eye out for large influxes of missing people, but one at a time over a couple of months? Definitely possible.”

Danny rubbed her temples. “Awesome. So now, on top of preventing the mass sacrifice of the leaders of our sworn enemies – still can’t believe that’s happening, by the way – and keeping Carmilla’s mom from assuming the powers of ancient Sumerian god, we also have to rescue five human hostages before they’re dinner.”

“Er…yes.”

Danny shot a look at Laura. “ _Now_ do you think we need more people?”

Laura held her hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright! I really didn’t want to do this, but I guess I have no choice…”

“Do what?”

Laura sighed. “Talk to Kirsch. I think we need the bros.”

* * *

 The sound of men cheering, accompanied by various cartoon-sounding noises, echoed down the hall as Laura neared Kirsch’s room. Despite most of House Hollis’ hunters living in town, Kirsch was, as luck would have it, one of the few to board within the compound. Laura had never stopped by his room, and, come to think of it, didn’t even know if he had family living in town. But her musings came to an end when she arrived at his door, and preparing herself for the approaching wave of Kirsch-ness, knocked.

There was a scuffle from within, before Kirsch threw the door open, looking out confusedly before Laura cleared her throat.

He looked down, and seeing Laura, broke into a wide grin. “Yo, Hollis! Don’t tell me you’re here for the Super Smash Bros. tourney!”

He opened the door wider, and Laura saw several guys gathered on a couch before a rather huge TV, yelling at the screen as they played some videogame.

“No, thanks, Kirsch. I, uh, actually needed to talk to you about something…it’s related to what we were talking about during morning watch.”

Kirsch stared at her, confused, before realization struck. “Oh. _Oh_.” He yelled encouragement to the guys on the couch before stepping into the hall with Laura, closing the door behind him. “What, you and the punk hottie having more problems?”

“I…yeah, sort of. But Kirsch, there’s something you should know. Her name is Carmilla.”

He nodded. “Cool.”

“Carmilla _Karnstein_.”

He continued to nod at her for a second before abruptly freezing, his eyes widening comically. “Wait, what the f-”

“It’s not what you think,” she cut in hastily. “Er, well, not yet, I don’t think- but _anyway_ , she and I have been investing her clan. She thought her mom was up to something and we found proof that Lilita Morgan has a majorly bad plan coming up, basically culminating in the elimination of the vampire clans and then us.”

He stared at her for a second, his mind clearly catching up. “Uh…woah.”

Laura couldn’t help but smile. “My thoughts exactly. Which is why I’m here. I need your help, Kirsch. You’re the best shot I’ve ever seen.”

He smiled modestly, rubbing the back of his head. “Aw, thanks Hollis, but…this sounds pretty major. Shouldn’t you talk to your dad, get the House involved?”

“No!” she said quickly. “Uh…I mean, it’s too dangerous. You know him, he’d totally overreact and declare war and get all the houses involved and by then it would be too late. We need to do this ourselves.”

Kirsch looked at her closely, looking serious now, before nodding. “Okay. I trust you, Laura, always have. If you need me, I’m your bro.” He gestured back towards his room. “I can probably get some of the guys to come along too.”

Laura slumped grinned, elated and more than a little relieved. “That would be amazing, Kirsch. Thank you.”

He shrugged. “What’s the point of being a hunter if you can’t kick a little vampire ass every now and then?” He looked around conspiratorially before leaning towards her. “Between you and me, Hollis, the morning watch can get a little boring sometimes.”

Laughter bubbled from Laura’s throat. “I know the feeling.”

After making arrangements with Kirsch about where to meet and what to bring – they agreed that he and his friends would come down to the labs later that night to see the maps and learn the plan – Laura had one last stop to make, one that she wasn’t looking forward to.

Though she’d been putting up a brave face for Danny, LaF, and Kirsch, she was having more than a few doubts. Was this really the best thing to do? What she’d told Kirsch about not getting the House involved was valid – the last thing she wanted to be remembered for was dragging the houses back into another futile war – but other worries persisted. Was she capable of pulling this off? She’d gotten her friends involved, and though they would never say so their lives were on her shoulders.

And the worst fear of all, one that she’d barely voiced to herself…what if Carmilla really _was_ involved, had disappeared purposely so that Laura would come, bringing others with her, and run straight into a trap. What if she’d been playing them, playing _Laura_ , this whole time- but no. She stopped the thought even as it came. Laura believed Carmilla, believed _in_ Carmilla. And if she was in trouble, Laura would do her best to help her.

Laura slowed as she realized that, lost in her thoughts, she’d walked straight past her destination. Or perhaps her reluctance had played a role. Forcing herself to turn, she walked back to the door located not far from her mother’s study, and after a pause, knocked, hoping her father wouldn’t answer.

No such luck. Almost immediately, his deep voice gave permission to enter, and Laura straightened her shoulders resolutely before walking in.

William Hollis sat at the great desk of his study, reading glasses perched on his nose as he stared at sheaves of reports. The worry lines usually creasing his face disappeared when he saw Laura, and he brightened, gesturing for her to sit.

“Well, hello, stranger!” he said, smiling. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. Shall I call for coffee?”

Laura sat, smiling uncomfortably. “Hey, Dad. No, that’s okay. I just wanted to say hi.”

“And I’m glad you did. Haven’t been seeing much of you lately.”

Laura swallowed, feeling a stab of guilt – he hadn’t seen her, because she’d been spending almost every night in the labs with Carmilla Karnstein. “Haha, yeah, I guess I’ve just been a little busy lately.” He nodded understandingly. “So, uh, how’s the prep for that assembly thing going?”

He shrugged, gesturing towards the notes. “Ah, as well as can be expected. We have the extra patrols in town and whatnot. Our intel feeds have been pretty quiet, no ominous vampire things to report. With any luck, they’ll stay that way.”

She forced a smile, though it probably came out as more of a grimace. “Yeah, let’s hope so.”

They sat in silence for a moment, her father waiting patiently. Finally, Laura spoke, not looking at him. “Hey, Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever done something? That you weren’t sure would work but knew would help others?”

He hesitated, sitting back slowly. “Well, that depends, I suppose. If this, ah, thing, was potentially dangerous, I may think twice. But…”

“But?”

“But if it were to help my friends, or my family. I would do it,” he said, looking at her resolutely. “We’re Hollises, after all.”

She smiled tremulously. “Represent.”

He peered at her, looking a little worried. “Sweetheart, is everything all right?”

Laura swallowed before brightening. “Of course! Just wanted to know what you thought.” She sprang up before he could inquire further. “Well, better get going! Don’t want to keep you from your work.”

“You’re not-”

She kissed him on the cheek before heading for the door. “Bye, Dad! Love you!”

“I love you too!” he called at her disappearing back, his confusion palpable.

Laura walked briskly from the study, waiting until she was sufficiently far before swiping angrily at her eyes. She took a moment to compose herself before starting towards the labs, her face the image of perfect calm. There. She’d talked to her dad, and now there was nothing left to do but prepare for the Assembly. One way or another, everything ended tomorrow night.

Even if that included her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw, Papa Hollis!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another installment! Sorry for the longer than usual wait; school is back with a vengeance. 
> 
> Also, this chapter ran long, so after some outline shuffling this story will now conclude in 11 chapters.
> 
> Enjoy!

The estate, Laura decided, looked a lot friendlier the last time she stopped by. And that was saying something, considering she’d been crashing a private party hosted by her mortal (immortal?) enemies and attended by a couple hundred of their closest friends.

Before her, the Karnstein estate stretched out into darkness, the bright lights that had illuminated the mansion and the long driveway extinguished. From her vantage point on the overlooking hill, Laura could see the only lighted building on the property: the Lustig Chapel.

The building was a beacon in the darkness; Laura thought of the dozens of vampires within, the 160 delegates from the other clans, all preparing for their Assembly, unaware of the terrible plan about to erupt under their very feet. She glanced at her watch; ten to 11 PM. They were on schedule thus far, with the Assembly due to begin precisely at midnight, as had been tradition for centuries.

Looking to Kirsch, who lay to her left, and then to LaFontaine on her right, she nodded and the three raised their rifle scopes to their eyes, surveying the landscape, the scientist handling their pulse rifle with surprising ease. Their usual basic riflescopes, meant for daily use in the wan light of the morning watch, had been switched out for much more specialized gear, and Laura hoped that the House Hollis armorer didn’t notice several of the ludicrously expensive night vision scopes missing from inventory.

They did make things easier, though; through the greenish illumination of the scope Laura could make out the occasional figure of a guard moving about the perimeter, several grouped around the main gate. Getting past them there would have been a lesson in futility, and even _had_ they accomplished such a task, the odds of raising the alarm in the process were too high for any of their liking.

So Danny and Laura – using the house’s hard-earned blueprints and satellite images of the estate as a guide – had turned to a hopefully less obvious entry point: a side gate near the mansion, looking so small and overgrown in the images that the two hoped it had been more or less forgotten by the estate’s residents. The area near the gate looked quiet, but Laura and the others had spent years getting a single lesson drilled into their heads: never underestimate a vampire.

And so even if their wish for an easy entrance had been improbably granted, they still weren’t taking any chances. Laura raised a hand to her earpiece and murmured, her voice barely audible, “Danny, go.”

Danny’s voice came back, just as quiet. “Roger.”

There was no more conversation, and Laura raised the scope back to her eyes, watching the area around the gate intently. By their count there had been seven guards whose patrols led them into near proximity of the gate; if all went to plan, there would soon be zero.

As Laura watched, a guard strolled perhaps thirty feet from the gate, clearly at ease despite being on duty. She rolled her eyes; the amateur was about to get what was coming to him. The guard paused, taking a moment to stretch, obviously bored. As he raised his arms, a dark shape crashed into him, incapacitating him without a sound. The shape raised its head, peering uncannily at Laura’s direction, and the girl could make out blood dripping from its fangs before the wolf dragged the body away.

She let out a breath; there was a difference between sparring with a wolf and seeing it rip out someone’s throat with ferocious ease. But in this case it was necessary – taking out one vampire to prevent the death of hundreds.

Laura had initially been opposed to employing Danny and her cousins in this manner, contending that the guards could just as well be taken out from a distance with a dartgun, armed with darts of the incapacitating cocktail LaFontaine had created.

But Danny had neatly shut her down, pointing out that they not only would they still have to close in to hide the bodies, but that getting perfect shots in near total darkness on each guard – night vision scope or no – was a hugely risky proposition, especially with no room for error. She’d also argued that the Lawrences, in their wolf form, were comparably strong and fast to the vampires, with the added benefit of being quiet, and could thus take them out one by one and then hide the bodies, the other guards not smelling the blood of their comrades before it was too late. Seeing the points laid out before her, Laura had been forced to agree.

Seeing the plan unfold before her now, Laura grudgingly admitted to herself that perhaps it was best that she hadn’t pressed the point, watching as another wolf took out a third guard as he approached.

The last four guards were taken out in short order, falling one by one – it seemed that the last eight decades of peace had made them grown soft, Laura thought derisively. Too many parties and not enough training or patrolling in the freezing rain.

She lay watching tensely for several more minutes, waiting for Danny’s signal, and slumped with relief when a wolf trotted up to the gate, looking up to where Laura and the rest lay in wait, indicating that the coast was clear, before disappearing from view.

She rose noiselessly, her black tactical gear helping to conceal her movements, and hoisted her pack over her shoulder, keeping her rifle in her arms lest she needed it on short notice. Looking back to Kirsch and LaFontaine, Kirsch’s bros huddled near by, she gestured shortly and they stood as well, gripping their rifles.

“You ready for this?” LaFontaine muttered, joining her.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she responded grimly, staring at the chapel. “Let’s go attack a vampire estate.”

They made their way down from the hill, sticking to the shadows and creeping slowly towards the side gate. Arriving, Laura pulled the bolt cutters from her bag, preparing to sever the thick lock hanging from the gate and hoping the resulting crack wouldn’t be too loud, when LaFontaine stopped her.

“Wait a sec,” they said, hoisting the pulse rifle. “Lemme try something.”

“Woah, LaF, I really don’t think-”

But the scientist was already in action, powering up the rifle and flipping various switches on the side. Laura watched, agog. Were they seriously planning to blow up the gate the same way they’d made scrap metal out of that stool the day before? Stealthy, that was not. She held up a hand, ready to protest, but LaFontaine just shook their head.

“Just watch.” They held the rifle up to the lock, and Laura tensed, but instead of the purple flash and resulting combustion from earlier, a thin, intense beam shot from the gun. Laura watched, astonished, as the beam quickly heated the metal of the lock, turning it red and then even hotter, until two of the links simply melted away. LaFontaine grinned triumphantly and turned the gun off before simply pulling the lock free from the gate.

They noticed Laura’s amazement and shrugged modestly. “Thought it might be useful to install different settings. A lot quieter than a bolt cutter, anyway.”

Laura shook her head. “Remind me never to doubt your science.”  
  
“You got it.”

Opening the gate as quietly as they could, they slipped inside. First part of the plan down: they were in. And now for the hard part.

A pack of wolves trotted up to them, their muzzles all slick with too-dark vampire blood. Laura suppressed a wince and nodded appreciatively at them.

“Nice work, guys,” she said. She looked at them, searching for Danny – it wasn’t immediately obvious, what with the beasts all being of similar size and coloring – and frowned when she realized that there were only four wolves present. Danny and one of her cousins weren’t among them.

“Where-” she began, only to have one of the wolves toss its head back towards the woods from which they’d emerged.

Before she could inquire further, the wolf gestured again towards the wood before turning tail and trotting into the trees, followed by its companions. Laura sighed and gestured towards Kirsch and the others, heading after the creatures.

They headed deeper and deeper into the woods, making their way with the weak moonlight coming in through the trees, and barely kept pace with the wolves, who moved with urgency.

She was about to yank them to a halt and demand answers, when they themselves slowed, walking more cautiously until they reached a dense copse of trees. Laura’s eyes widened.

Danny and another wolf had a vampire cornered, the wolf growling menacingly at the man, who was backed up against a tree while Danny stood over him, her fangs bared.

Laura rushed forward, rifle in hand. “Danny, what the hell-”

She stopped short when she realized with a start that she recognized this particular vampire. More than recognize him; she had kicked his ass not very long ago.

A surge of fury swept over her and she started towards William, who was more or less cowering, but looked up at her defiantly, hatred in his eyes.

“You’re going to regret this, Hollis,” he spat. “Who’s the one starting a war now?”

Danny moved away from him just in time for Laura’s punch to squarely meet his jaw; William’s head barely rocked back, his vampiric constitution absorbing the blow.

“Is that supposed to hurt?” he sneered.

Laura paused from shaking out her hand. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m clearly going too easy on you.”

Without a pause, she lunged at him, seizing his jaw with one hand and pulling the syringe free from its holster with the other. She held it up, noting with satisfaction the way his eyes widened.

“Remember this?” she asked, her voice cold. “It was fun last time, wasn’t it? This time the dose is even better. More than enough to burn you to death inside out. Wanna try it?”

She pressed the point of the needle to his neck, pushing the flesh but not breaking it.

“And for the record, it’s your mother who’s starting a war, not me,” she said. “Why the hell do you think I’m here?”

William strained away from the syringe. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, you psycho-”

Laura just pressed the needle a little firmer and he stopped short.

“Alright, Jesus, alright!” he said, his voice panicked. “What the hell do you want?!”

“I know about the sacrifice,” she said. “When is your mother going to start it? How far into the Assembly?”

He stared. “You know-?”

A wolf growled at him and he paled further. “Right after her speech! Right after her introductory speech.”

“There,” Laura said. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

William glared at her. “What, you think you can stop it? You and your little group of dogs and humans? My idiotic sister already tried, and look how well that turned out for her-”

He stopped abruptly, cutting his sentence short.

Laura leaned forward, livid. “What did you say about Carmilla? Where is she? What did you do to her?”

He just stared at her, his eyes mutinous.

Laura’s patience had run out. “I said,” she broke the flesh of his neck with the needle, thumb poised on the plunger. “ _What did you do to her?_ ”

He gasped in pain. “She’s- she’s alive!”

Laura closed her eyes briefly in relief. “Where is she?”

“In- in the dungeons of the mansion. Locked in a coffin.”

Laura tamped down her fury. He was useless to them dead. “Your cooperation is appreciated.”

He spat at her. “You’re about to join her in that coffin, Hollis. Mother will kill you all, you psycho hunter bitch-”

Laura rolled her eyes. “You know, on second thought…” She pushed the plunger down, and he exclaimed in pain before beginning to shake, falling to the ground.

She squatted before where he lay. “I lied. That dose won’t kill you.” She smiled, patting his head. “Just make you hurt for a long, long time.”

Laura got back to her feet, brushing her hands on her shirt. “Where did you find him, Danny?”

The other girl, who had in the meantime shifted back to her human form and pulled on her tactical gear, cleared her throat, tearing her gaze from the prone vampire. “He was skulking around near here. Got him just before he started back for the Chapel.”

“Good going,” she said, hoisting her rifle. “But this means a change of plans.”

“What do you mean…” Danny said cautiously.

Laura turned to stare up at the dark walls of the mansion. “I have to look for Carmilla.”

* * *

The halls of the mansion were dim and empty, a far cry from the bright splendor that had filled them during the party; it seemed that most, if not all, of the clan was away in the chapel. Laura crept cautiously, trying to find her way down to the dungeons and wondering how far along everyone else was.

After soothing both Danny _and_ LaFontaine’s protests (the two clearly disconcerted at being on the same side of an argument), the group had split up, setting out for various objectives.

Danny and her cousins would continue to patrol the area, taking out guards as needed and basically trying to keep the alarm from being sounded. LaFontaine and Kirsch’s bros set out for the chapel, determined to locate and recover the human hostages. Kirsch was about to join them, but Laura had pulled him aside.

_“Kirsch, I need you for a separate task,” she said._

_He looked at her confusedly. “What’s up, Hollis?”_

_“Look…I think we all know our odds of stopping the sacrifice and making it out alive."_

_He shrugged, his eyes grim. “Not great.”_

_“Exactly. But we can’t afford to let the sacrifice happen. No matter the cost.”_

_“What do you want me to do?”_

_“You’re the best sharpshooter we have. Here’s what you need to do…”_

After giving Kirsch the details of his task, Laura had set off for the mansion, gaining entry through a first-floor window after picking the lock.

Now, she crept through the eerily deserted halls, searching for some back staircase that would take her down, the pulse rifle slung over her shoulder bumping uncomfortably into her hip every now and again, reminding her of its presence. LaFontaine had insisted she have it upon hearing of her “insane solo suicide mission,” and had given her a quick tutorial of its finer points, though Laura hoped she wouldn’t have to use it.

Recalling the direction servers had come from bearing replenished trays of drinks and hors d'oeuvres, she headed that way, hoping it would lead to the kitchens and in turn the cellars.

Her hunch was correct; the decorations of the hall she was heading down quickly grew plainer, before disappearing all together, the stone of the walls bare. Finally, she reached the great double doors that no doubt led to the kitchens, and hearing no sound from within, cautiously cracked a door and peered inside.

No one. The large room was empty, the workers either gone for the night or working at the Chapel. She slipped inside, pulling the door shut behind her. There clearly had been a great deal of activity earlier, and Laura recalled her father mentioning once that the clans always had a grand feast before the Assembly; proof of it lay in the dishes stacked by the sink and – she grimaced – the empty blood bags piled on a table.

Seeing them gave her a thought, and she took a detour to the large fridge, pulling it open. Sure enough, a neat stack of blood bags greeted her, and she took one and placed it in her pack.

That done, she looked around for another door, for surely the kitchen was connected to the cellars. Finally, she spotted a small door on the far wall, and quickly made her way through and down the stairs to a dark, damp room. Bottles of wine lined the walls and filled shelves throughout the room, but to Laura’s disappointment there was no other door or staircase that would allow her to go down even further. Dead end.

She sighed, heading for the exit, when a noise made her freeze.

“…almost on my break, Henry.”

“Yeah, well, you still have fifteen minutes, so stay alert. I’m heading for the Chapel.”

“Yeah, yeah." 

She listened intently. Where were the voices coming from? Not around her, certainly not in the same room. It was…almost as if...

Laura looked down, searching the floor, until…yes! Several feet from where she stood lay a circular grate in the floor. She scampered towards it on light feet and peered through the gaps between the metal bars.

She could make out what appeared to be a hallway, much like the one she’d walked through, bare stone and dimly lit. A figure walked under the grate, causing her to withdraw, until she realized it must be the guard she’d heard.

A guard…could it be? She knew the dungeons were on the lowermost level, and she’d already come a ways down to get to the cellar. And if they had a guard posted on the hallway she was above, she could very well be right above her goal.

Only one way to find out. She waited until the guard had walked away from the grate, to the far side of the hall, before hoisting the pulse rifle, powering it on and adjusting the settings like LaFontaine had shown her.

She experimentally pulled the trigger, and sure enough, the same thin but intense beam from earlier shot out. Laura quickly directed the beam towards the metal grate, and trying to replicate the scientist’s actions began to melt the individual bars of the grate, pulling them free one by one.

She had to pause several times, whenever the guard came too close, but soon enough she had removed enough to be able to get through. Laura peered down into the hall. It wasn’t a big drop, perhaps ten feet. She’d done much worse in training. Now about that guard…

Making sure her pack was secure and the pulse rifle re-holstered, she pulled out a second syringe and waited. A minute passed, and then another, until finally his footsteps grew louder, and louder, as he made his way back towards Laura’s side of the hall.

Laura waited until he was exactly under her before blurring into action. She dropped through the grate, crashing into him and toppling him to the ground. Before he could react or recover, she had emptied the syringe into his neck, and he shook before laying still. She stood, satisfied with her work. A textbook aerial takedown.

She surveyed the hall before her. Three heavy doors on each side, all shut and no doubt locked. She _could_ pick the locks, she supposed, but…Laura eyed the supine guard speculatively. Perhaps he’d be able to help her out. Without a pause she knelt and rummaged through his pockets, grinning in triumph when she pulled out a ring of keys. Jackpot.

Trying the keys one by one, she managed to open the first door on the right and peered in. Empty. Well, not for long. Laura dragged the guard in, patting him on the shoulder apologetically before seeing herself out and relocking the door.

She continued the process three more time, working her way down the hall before coming to a door that wouldn’t open, no matter how many of the keys she tried. Examining the lock, Laura realized that it had been swapped out for a much more intense version of its companions, and swapped recently.  She stuffed the keys in her pocket, leaving the lock picking tools there as well. They’d be of no use to her here. Other tools, on the other hand…

Laura lifted the pulse rifle. She may not be armed with only a hammer, but every problem was certainly starting to look like a nail. Turning it on, she quickly burned a square around the lock, until it was completely separate from the door. An experimental push didn’t quite do the trick, but a perhaps overly aggressive front kick certainly did. The door flew open, creaking in protest, and Laura rushed in, rifle held up, ready to take out whoever else stood between her and Carmilla.

She stopped short. There was no one else there. The room, as dark and damp as the rest of the dungeons, was empty save for a large cart in the middle of the room. And on that cart lay a long, dark coffin. Laura stared at it, feeling sick to her stomach. How evil, how _twisted_ did someone have be to consider locking someone in there suitable punishment?

After a moment she shook off her shock, though the horror remained. Lilita Morgan would get paid in full for this, and for every other treacherous act she had planned. Laura would see to that. But there was no more time for idle thoughts, and Laura approached the coffin, tentative and fearful despite her bravado moments before.

The coffin was firmly sealed, wrapped in long chains and locks for good measure. Laura surveyed them, then reached for the bolt cutter in her pack; she couldn’t risk accidentally hurting Carmilla using the pulse rifle.

Leaning her weight into the cutter, Laura snapped the chains one by one. Finally, the task was done, and she pulled them free of the coffin, dropping the bolt cutter in her haste. The coffin itself was closed with a simple latch, and Laura quickly unclasped it. Then, sending up a prayer to anyone who might be listening, she reached over and lifted the lid to the coffin.

Before she knew what was happening, Laura was flying through the air, some enormous force pushing her back. She landed on her back, the breath knocked from her lungs and her head banging painfully against the stone floor.

But the struggle for air or the black spots in her vision weren’t her main concern. It was Carmilla, soaked to the bone in blood, holding her down with a hand tight around her throat.

Laura stared up at her as thick rivulets of blood dripped onto her face and clothing. Carmilla stared back, but though her eyes were wide, they were unfocused, and Laura thought that perhaps Carmilla was not seeing her at all.

Carmilla leaned forward further, her grip tightening. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hurtling towards the end now, y'all!
> 
> Thanks for reading!

All throughout Laura’s life, through the years of lessons and training, a central message was drilled into her head: with preparation comes survival. By taking her classes seriously, spending hours in the training rooms, learning from her father and from older hunters, she would be ready to handle whatever the world threw at her – she would be ready to confront the threat always presented by vampires. Years of preparation would enable her to endure in a world dominated by their enemies.

Nothing had ever prepared her for this.

Laura strained against the hand wrapped in a vise around her throat, still stunned from being thrown halfway across the room. Carmilla leaned over her, her eyes wide and unseeing but filled with hate, blood dripping from her chin and hair.

“You may be a treacherous rat, but I confess that I thought even you had boundaries.”

“C- Carmilla-”

She bent closer to Laura. “How foolish of me.”

Laura desperately swept her gaze around the room, looking for something to dissuade Carmilla. The vampire had clearly dissociated, and she doubted her ability to bring her back.

She eyed the bolt cutter, lying just out of reach where she had dropped it after cutting the chains on the coffin. If she could just grab it-

But the thought was wiped away as the grip around her neck tightened, cutting off her air supply. Laura looked wide-eyed back towards Carmilla.

“ _Look_ at me, you bastard,” the girl spat, her lips curling into a snarl. “I want to see the light go out of your eyes once and for all.”

Oh, god. Laura tried to think of something, anything, to say or do, but anything she might have attempted seemed utterly inconsequential in the face of Carmilla’s all-consuming wrath. And it was getting harder to think in general, her vision dimming, the room growing darker…

This was it for her. The thought of her father alone in the compound, wife and daughter gone, made her eyes burn, and she felt wetness on her cheeks – though it may just been the blood dripping from Carmilla as the room faded to black.

_Sorry, Dad._

The iron grip on her throat loosened, and then fell away altogether. Startled, Laura took a gasping breath before breaking into a series of wheezing coughs.

Recovering, she looked up, clutching her neck. Carmilla stood above her, arms still outstretched, as she stared at Laura. As Laura massaged her throat, horror slowly dawned on Carmilla’s face, and she took several slow steps back, eyes transfixed on the girl before her.

Laura coughed again, finally finding her voice. “Carmilla, I-”

But the sound of Laura’s voice seemed to wake Carmilla from her trance, and the girl’s slow steps backwards turned into a desperate rush.

In her haste to get away, she missed the puddle of blood that had splashed from the coffin, and collapsed in an ungraceful tangle of limbs.

Laura scrambled to her feet, reaching for her, but Carmilla just pushed herself away, stopping only when her back hit the cart. She slumped there, defeated.

Laura watched her for a moment to see if she would try to run again, but the girl stayed put, looking both exhausted and overwhelmed.

She took a cautious step towards her, hands outreached, supplicating. “Hey, hey, Carm…”

“Don’t come any closer.” Carmilla’s voice rang out sharply in the room.

Laura froze. “Carmilla, it’s me, Laura.”

Carmilla stared at her, her eyes bright. “I know who you are, Laura. And look what I did to you, I- I-” She broke off, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking.

“Oh, Carm…” she crept to the girl, who made no protest. Crouching before her, she hovered for a moment uncertainly, before gently placing her hand on Carmilla’s shoulder.

“You didn’t know it was me. I know you, you never would have done it had you known.”

Carmilla looked up at the words, her face tortured. “Laura, I was going to kill you. Oh god, I’m a _monster_ -”

“You’re not. You’re not a monster,” Laura fiercely interjected, feeling her eyes burn once more. “You’re kind, and funny, and my friend. The only monster is the one who did this to you.”

Carmilla’s lips trembled, but she made no reply.

They say there for a moment, the only sound the vampire’s heavy breathing, before she broke the silence. “The coffin…”

“Oh, Carm, you don’t have to talk about it-”

Carmilla looked at her, her eyes looking deader than Laura had ever seen them. “Mother promised she would never put me in another. She knew what the first one did to me, and she- she did it _anyway_ -”

Tears slid down Laura’s face, cleaning tracks through the blood, and she acted on instinct, pulling the other girl into her arms. Carmilla stiffened for a second, and Laura cringed, thinking she had made the wrong move, but then the fight seemed to go out of the vampire and she sank into the embrace.

How long they huddled there, Laura murmuring words of comfort while Carmilla clutched her and the blood from her clothing soaked into Laura’s shirt, Laura didn’t know. She didn’t care much about the blood, either, not while Carmilla continued to shake as she pressed her face into Laura’s shoulder, the fabric there dampening as well, though not from blood.

“You’re safe now, I’m here, she’ll never do this again…”

Finally, Carmilla took several shuddering breaths and pulled free of the embrace. She wiped roughly at her face – succeeding only in smearing the blood further – before looking at Laura, seeming a bit calmer than before.

“You came. You’re in the estate.”

“I did. I was worried,” Laura said. “We all were.”

“ _We_?” Carmilla looked confused before frowning sharply at Laura. “Wait, Laura, you don’t mean to say-”

“Yep. Me, Danny, LaFontaine, and some others are here. We’re going to stop your mom.”

Carmilla stared at her, aghast. “You _what_? Laura, you’re going to fight her even now? She can’t be stopped. Look what she did here. She has no conscience, no qualms about any of this.”

Laura took her hand. “Carm. We don’t have a choice. Either way, everything ends tonight. Even if you’re right, that means we all die anyway.” She smiled wanly. “But I’d rather do it fighting than hiding at home.”

Carmilla closed her eyes briefly and shook her head before looking at Laura, seeming, against all odds, amused. “Well, no one can ever say you’re a pessimist.”

Laura chuckled, and they looked at each other for a moment. Carmilla’s eyes were mirthful, but her face was lined with exhaustion and pain, and Laura knew she was more affected by the trauma she’d just escaped than she let on.

“Carm…I have to go now, join up with the others.” She looked at the watch – 11:45, crap – and climbed to her feet. “I understand if you don’t want to come with us-”

Carmilla scoffed. “If you think I’m letting you go to the Chapel and confront my mother and the clans alone, cupcake, you don’t know me as well as I thought.”

Laura smiled. “I was kinda hoping you’d say that.”

Carmilla shrugged. “I have a rat bastard of a brother to take care of, anyway.”

She smoothly rose to her feet, clearly ready to join Laura, only to clutch her head and stumble slightly. Laura caught her elbow, steadying her.

“Woah, Carm, are you okay?”

The vampire grimaced, rubbing her head. “Ugh…yeah, just a bit, ah, hungry I guess. Feeling a little woozy.” She cast a disdainful glance at the coffin. “I wasn’t overly keen on the blood in there.”

Laura looked at the dark liquid in the coffin and splashed around it and barely repressed a shudder; she couldn’t imagine being submerged in it, trapped in it, and yet forced to rely on it for survival. She’d probably have resisted consuming any of it, too.

But Carmilla was in no shape to travel, let alone fight; she needed blood. Laura’s gaze caught her pack lying on the floor where it’d been tossed during their struggle, and her face lit up.

“Wait! I can totally help you out,” she said, retrieving the pack and rummaging through it.

“Help me out?”

“Yes! It’s in here somewhere, please don’t be torn, please- ah! Found it!” she emerged with the blood bag she’d swiped from the kitchens, holding her prize up triumphantly.

Carmilla stared at her. “You…brought blood?”

Laura shrugged a little sheepishly. “I came across some and thought it might be a good idea to have it. For you, if nothing else.”

The vampire looked at her for a long moment, her gaze unreadable, and Laura felt herself reddening. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you, cupcake?”

She accepted the blood bag from Laura. “Thank you.”

Laura waved her off, going for nonchalance but probably failing. “It was nothing! I just- I want you to be okay.”

Carmilla smiled, her eyes softening. “Maybe I will be.” She tore the bag open and, after casting a glance at Laura, who nodded encouragingly, proceeded to drain it in a several smooth gulps.

Laura tried not to wince at the rivulets of blood that leaked from the corners of Carmilla’s mouth; she really wasn’t disgusted or judgmental of the other girl’s needs, but the sheer volume of blood in the last ten minutes was getting a little overwhelming. She was only human, after all.

Carmilla noticed her distress as she finished the bag. “Everything alright, cutie?”

Laura shook it off and smiled brightly. “Yep! You just, ah, got a little something…” she leaned forward and wiped at the corner of Carmilla’s mouth, “…right there.”

Carmilla glanced at the hand resting against her face, then up at Laura. Laura, for her part, was feeling unaccountably nervous, but unable to pull her hand away or tear her gaze from Carmilla’s. The gesture, which moments before had felt innocent, suddenly took on a different quality altogether. Carmilla’s eyes grew heated, and the air around them felt thick. Laura swallowed. Was it just her or was Carmilla closer than she’d been before? Her gaze dropped to Carmilla’s lips. Maybe…

A sharp beeping made the two jump, Laura dropping her hand from Carmilla’s face as if she’d been burned, neatly ending the charged moment.

She looked down at her watch, from where the shrill noise was emanating, and gasped. “Oh my god, Carm, it’s 11:50. The Assembly is starting in ten minutes! We’ll never make it in time – the Chapel is at least 15 minute walk from here, especially with the guards!”

Carmilla responded by turning on her heel, heading for the door. Laura hastily shouldered her pack and retrieved the pulse rifle before following after her.

“Hey! Carmilla, did you hear me?”

She caught up to her, annoyed. “Hellooo, where are you going?”

Carmilla glanced at her as they continued to make their way briskly down the dungeon hallway. “There are tunnels connecting the mansion and the Chapel, meant for easy transport, escape, whatever. They’ll save us some time and let us get around the guards."

“…Oh.”

They veered sharply left into another nondescript hallway. “So, uh, where are these tunnels, exactly?”

Carmilla stopped at a blank patch of stone wall. “Here.”

She reached for a sconce on the wall and turned it; to Laura’s surprise, it rotated with a click. There was a rumble, and then the portion of wall before them slid away, revealing a dim earthen tunnel. Laura stared.

“Wow.”

“Yep.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Laura started down the tunnel, but Carmilla grabbed a strap of her pack, pulling her back.

“Uhh…something on your mind?”

Carmilla looked at her, but said nothing. Laura returned the stare confusedly. They stayed that way for a moment before Laura’s patience ran out.

“Um, Carm, not to rush you, but I kinda have to rush you, mass vampire sacrifice and everything…”

Carmilla continued to hesitate, and Laura raised her eyebrows exasperatedly.

Finally, the vampire found her words. “It’s still a bit of a trek. There might be a…faster way.”

“A faster way? Then let’s take it, of course!”

Carmilla seemed to be struggling with something, before finally sighing in resignation.

“Okay, just don’t…freak out…”

Before Laura could parse whatever _that_ was supposed to mean, Carmilla had taken several steps back. Shooting a final nervous glance at Laura, she leaned forward and was suddenly screened in a thick black smoke; Laura couldn’t make out anything behind it.

She tensed at the sight – she’d grown up hearing enough horror stories about the varied and devious abilities of vampires – but frowned, confused, at what sounded like the click of…claws again the floor?

The smoke cleared as quickly as it had come, and where Carmilla had been stood a sleek, utterly menacing panther, sharp canines protruding and yellow eyes bright and piercing.

Laura stared for a moment, shocked, before bursting into slightly hysterical laughter.

The panther looked at her, unimpressed. _That’s not the usual reaction this gets, cupcake._

“So...sorry,” Laura gasped out between laughs. “It’s just- you’re a cat!”

_Excellent powers of observation. Hunter training is truly impressive._

“No, you don’t get it. You’re a cat, Danny’s kind of a dog, you’re always at each other’s throats…”

Panther-Carmilla stared at her flatly. _Hilarious. Truly._

Belatedly, Laura realized that the panther was not, in fact, speaking out loud. “W- woah! You’re in my head!”

 _Indeed_.

“Danny definitely can’t do that…”

_Vampires prefer to retain normal communication regardless of what form we’re in…I can’t say I’m surprised to hear that the werewolves don’t have the same practice._

Laura bit back her smile; she would _not_ encourage Carmilla. “You’re incorrigible.”

The panther huffed _. Shall we?_

“Yes! Uh…wait,” Laura looked uncertainly at Carmilla. “How are we doing this, exactly?”

 _How do you think, cupcake?_ Carmilla shook herself out briskly; Laura winced as drops of blood spattered the surrounding walls. _Get on. There’s not much time._

“Get…on…?”

_Laura. I move faster than you could ever hope to in this form. If you want to even have a chance of stopping my mother, then get. On._

“Roger,” Laura said automatically, Carmilla’s commanding tone bringing out years of trained response.

She stepped closer to the panther, who looked at her insistently, and after a moment of hesitation gingerly climbed on, securing her pack and rifle.

 _You’re going to fall off the second we get going if you sit like that_ , Carmilla said. _Lean forward. Hold on._

“Leaning, holding, got it.”

Carmilla turned to the tunnel, taking a couple of tentative steps. _Ready?_

“Ready.”

As soon as the word has left Laura’s mouth they were off, Carmilla quickly reaching speeds that made the tunnel blur past. Laura, for her part, heeded Carmilla’s words and stayed close, holding on to handfuls of fur and trying not to fall off.

Carmilla hadn’t been joking; she really was frighteningly fast, progressing down the winding tunnel in half the time it would have taken Laura, even at a full sprint. Helpful too was her unflagging stamina – it seemed that the lack of a need to respire made for great marathon runners.

They had been moving for perhaps five minutes, Laura quickly losing track of the path Carmilla had taken, before the panther began to slow, finally pulling to a stop before a small door in the tunnel wall.

Laura climbed off the panther, a bit unsteady, and unclipped her rifle from where she had fastened it to the pack; she always felt a little better with firepower in easy reach. Carmilla, in the meantime, had disappeared behind the same smoke as before, reemerging in her human form.

“You okay?” she asked, dusting her hands off.

“Yeah. Ready for this?” Laura replied.

Carmilla cast a glance at the Chapel entrance and scowled. “Very much so.”

She stepped to the door and pulled it open, revealing a staircase.

“The Chapel doesn’t have dungeons,” Carmilla said. “These stairs will take us right to the same floor as the Assembly hall.”

Laura looked at the time: five past midnight. “It’s already started! William said your mom would initiate the sacrifice right after her intro speech!”

“Mother has always loved the sound of her own voice; she’ll talk for ten minutes at least.”

“Which gives us five minutes to get there, and stop her – come on!”

They raced up the steps, going up several flights before finally coming to a blank stone wall similar to the entrance back at the mansion. Carmilla stepped up to it, nodding at Laura, and pressed in a particular stone, and the wall slid to the side.

They stepped into the hall of the Chapel and immediately were bombarded by the amplified sound of Lilita Morgan’s voice, which echoed up and down the halls.

“…is the very great honor of the Karnstein clan to host this year’s Assembly, for it is a very auspicious year for the vampire people in general…”

“Buttering them up, I see,” Laura said.

“Makes it all the easier to slide the knife into their backs,” Carmilla replied. “Come on.”

They dashed down the empty hall, all visitors to the Chapel seated in the Assembly hall. As they ran, Morgan’s voice followed them.

“…the clans are all too familiar with my hesitance eight decades ago to sign the Treaty, but I want you all to know that I have made peace with it, for today marks a new era for our kind…”

“She sounds like she’s winding down, Carm,” Laura said breathlessly.

“We’re almost there.”

They turned right, into a long, straight hall, continuing uninterrupted for a lengthy stretch until finally terminating at a set of imposing double doors, ornately carved and filigreed. The entrance to the Assembly hall.

The two exchanged glances before breaking into sprints, racing towards the doors.

“…I believe it is time for a new age in the history of our people, an era of new heights of power and prestige…”

They were half way down the hall–

“…an era that will right the wrongs of the past…”

They were almost at the doors–

“…Not all will make this transition, but they will pave the way for those who do.”

An awful silence followed. A moment later Laura and Carmilla crashed through the doors, entering the Assembly hall with a bang, to see Morgan standing at a pulpit at the center of the room, her back to them and arms outstretched, head tilted back.

Laura raced up the alley between the stands, mouth opening to scream something, anything that would stop her, but fearing the worst – it couldn’t be too late, they’d come so far-

A shot rang out through the Assembly hall, shattering the silence like thunder. Lilita Morgan slumped against the pulpit, then fell to the ground.

There was a beat. Another. Then the stands erupted in noise, the seated vampires breaking into screams, shouted inquiries, noises of confusion, and general chaos, some trying to leave but crowded in by the others.

Laura looked up at the bedlam helplessly. She hadn’t fired that shot, though she knew who had. Either way, it didn’t matter – she was about to take the fall for it just the same.

“STOP!”

The shouted order cut through the disorder, the stands creaking as 160 vampires turned towards the noise.

Carmilla stomped to the center of hall, glaring up at the crowd. There were audible gasps as the vampires took in her appearance, drenched in blood as she was. The sight was enough to make them break into alarm once more; Carmilla’s jaw flexed in irritation, and she looked to Laura and nodded.

Laura returned the nod and powered up the pulse rifle and then, without hesitating, fired into the air.

The resulting minor explosion in the ceiling, paired with the resulting cloud of falling wood and metal, was more than enough to silence the crowd once more.

“That’s better,” Carmilla said.

“What the bloody hell is going on here, Countess?” a brave voice called from the stands.

“I’m glad you asked,” Carmilla said. “The short answer is: we just saved all your lives. My mother here was planning to kill you all.”

The crowd erupted once more.

Laura suppressed a smile – she could swear Carmilla’s eye had just twitched – when she heard footsteps behind her.

She turned sharply, rifle held aloft, only to see LaFontaine, Danny, and a second girl she didn’t recognize, with curly red hair and wearing a turtleneck, running into the room.

They all slumped in relief upon seeing Laura, and dashed up.

“Laura! Where the hell have you been?! You stopped responding to the radio channel!” Danny snapped, nerves clearly frayed.

Laura reached up to her ear in surprise; sure enough, the earpiece was missing. It must have been knocked free when Carmilla tackled her.

“Oh…I’m sorry, guys, I’m fine, I just lost my earpiece.”

Danny nodded, relaxing incrementally. She looked over Laura’s shoulder, to where Carmilla addressed the crowd, having silenced them again, and her eyes widened.

“What the hell-”

“Yeah, Carmilla’s been better. She’s fine for now, though,” Laura interjected, not wanting to get into it. “What are you doing here? I thought you and your cousins would be patrolling.”

Danny shrugged. “We took out most of the guards, and LaF radioed me to tell me you were MIA, so I thought it best to regroup.”

Laura nodded. “And the hostages?”

LaFontaine smiled. “Found ‘em. Locked in a room a floor above. We took out the guards and hid them – Danny’s cousins and Kirsch’s friends are guarding them.”

They gestured towards the redheaded girl, who had been watching the proceedings with awe. “This is – or was – one of the hostages. Lola Perry. She wanted to come along.”

“Insisted, more like,” Danny muttered.

“Hello, Miss Hollis,” Perry said. “I understand I have you to thank for my rescue.”

“Oh, well, it was a group effort-”

The introductions were interrupted by the sound of more footsteps, and Kirsch appeared in the doorway, long rifle held in his hands, looking stressed.

He raced up to Laura. “Yo, Hollis, did I get her?!”

Laura nodded. “I think so, Kirsch. I haven’t checked yet. Nice shot.”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure when to take the shot. I’d been hiding up in those rafters for so damn long, couldn’t feel my legs. But when she raised her arms like that…didn’t seem like a good idea to take any chances, you know? So I took it. Got the hell out of dodge right after.”

“You did good, Kirsch.”

Danny was looking between them. “Wait – Kirsch, you shot Carmilla’s mom?!”

She looked to the pulpit and saw the body laying next to it, her eyes bulging. “Holy shit!”

“Laura told me to!” Kirsch said defensively.

“I needed a final fallback, Danny,” Laura cut in. “In case we all got taken out or got here too late, which turned out to be the case anyway. Kirsch was it.”

Danny stared at the body. “And that was enough?”

“Looks like it.”

In the center of the hall, Carmilla was winding down her explanation. “…Mother got me out of the way, so I couldn’t warn any of you, or stop her here. It’s really thanks to Laura and the hunters that we got here in time.”

She gestured towards Laura, who swallowed nervously before joining her at the center of the room, feeling the piercing stares of 160 of her sworn enemies. Carmilla seemed to sense her anxiety, and squeezed her hand quickly before addressing the room.

“Laura Hollis, heir to House Hollis. Our enemies. And yet she risked her life to save you all just the same. To stop Mother. And she succeeded.”

Laura flushed at the praise. “As if you didn’t do anything, Carm.” She faced the stands. “Without Carmilla coming to me with her suspicions, we never would have learned of the sacrifice. She’s the real reason Lilita Morgan has been stopped.”

The crowd broke into murmurs at the disclosure, many considering glances being thrown at the two.

“Think they’ll believe us?” Laura murmured to Carmilla.

“We’ll find out soon enough. The worst is over, anyway,” Carmilla said.

A noise sounded from behind the two, raising the hairs on the back of Laura’s neck. It sounded almost as if…she turned to Carmilla; the girl’s face was a mask of disbelief and terror.

Laura knew that noise, that voice. She’d just heard it amplified up and down the Chapel walls.

The slow chuckle, dark and menacing, came once more as Lilita Morgan stirred. “Oh, my dear, dear daughter. You should have stayed in that coffin. We’re only just getting started.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! I keep running away with these chapters, so after another outline shuffle this story will now conclude in 12 chapters. For reals this time.
> 
> Enjoy!

Laura staggered back, clutching her rifle, unable to fully comprehend the sight before her. Beside her, Carmilla stood still, a terribly empty look on her face, her eyes defeated as she watched her mother rise to her feet, gasps audible through the hall.

Lilita Morgan brushed her sleeves idly, smoothly ignoring their stares and the bloody rip at the breast of her dress. Only when she was satisfied did she deign to meet their gazes, her smile all the more chilling for its serenity.

“Really, now, dear,” she said, training her eyes on Carmilla, who jerked at the sound, “Did you think a mere bullet would be enough to kill me?”

She began to advance on the girls as she continued, her voice eerily tranquil.

“ _Me_ , who has seen civilization rise and fall? Who was centuries old before you were born?”

She had almost reached them when Laura finally snapped out of her shock, fumbling for her rifle. But she had no sooner gripped it before it was pulled from her grasp with overwhelming force. Morgan studied the gun with interest, her appearance giving no indication that she had ever moved – and yet, she had Laura’s gun. Laura paled; she had thought Carmilla fast, but it was becoming uncomfortably clear that the girl was a mere beginner in comparison to the clan’s leader.

“My, my, what amusing toys you hunters come up with,” she said, smiling at Laura. “But I’m afraid I’ve rather lost patience for this whole charade.”

Without a pause she plunged her hand into the barrel of the gun, the metal giving way as if it had been tissue, and pulled a fistful of wiring from inside, sparks flying. The gun emitted a few strained warning beeps before dying, and she tossed it aside disdainfully.

“What nonsense,” she sniffed, wiping her hands as if she’d touched something dirty. “I simply will never understand why you humans make things so difficult.”

Laura forced herself to straighten, injecting steel into her voice. “I don’t need a gun to fight you, Morgan,” she said. “And I know what you’ve been planning. It’s too late – your hostages are free, and there’s no way you can start the sacrifice!”

Carmilla’s mother paused from cleaning her hands. “Such confidence,” she said. “But you’re wrong on several counts, dear. I see five perfectly healthy humans in front of me.” She showed her teeth in a smile that failed to reach her eyes. “ _Seize them_.”

In the split second it took for Laura to grasp her implication, a series of actions took place. LaFontaine and Kirsch raised their rifles, aiming at Morgan, and Laura dropped down in a defensive crouch, reaching for the dagger strapped to her thigh. But their motions, quick as they were, were in the end only human.

Karnstein clan vampires appeared behind each hunter in a cloud of black smoke, wearing tactical gear similar to Laura’s and looking far more deadly than any of the bumbling guards they had dealt with outside. Before any of the group could react the vampires had grasped them with blinding speed, ignoring their struggles with frustrating ease.

Laura struggled fruitlessly against the guard, who held her arms painfully behind her in a stone grip with one hand and pressed a knife to her throat with the other. Beside her, Carmilla watched with wide eyes, looking torn but seemingly frozen. Laura cast a glance at her pleadingly.

“C- Carm-”

Morgan clucked her tongue. “Now, now, Miss Hollis. You’ve had your fun, but I think Carmilla remembers her true place in this world. Don’t you, dear?”

Carmilla looked between them, her face a mask of pain, but remained silent.

Morgan laughed lightly. “I suppose that answers that.” She gestured to the guards. “Take them to their places.”

The guards nodded and pulled the hunters to various spots around the hall, unmoving against their struggles. Laura realized with a jolt that they were being dragged to the five points of the pentagram, where, she recalled sickly, their blood would be spilled. The thought renewed her efforts against her captor, but he simply pressed the knife firmer to her throat.

When the guards had positioned them at the various points – Danny, Kirsch, LaFontaine, and Perry all resisting – Morgan walked up to where Laura was being held, looking amused at the girl’s glare.

“Really, now, Miss Hollis, was all this struggle necessary?”

“My family has spent decades fighting your kind,” Laura spat. “And we’ve been more than successful. Killing me won’t change that.”

Morgan’s persistent smile faded, replaced by a look that threatened far more menace.

“Yes, you and your family have spent quite a few of your lifetimes in your little struggle, haven’t you?” she said, circling the girl. “An abomination, really…cockroaches, _cattle_ , going against the natural order of things.”

She stopped in front of Laura. “But it’s of no significance,” she said, tracing a finger down Laura’s face. “All will be set to rights presently.”

Laura responded by spitting at her feet. Morgan stepped back, disgusted.

“How dare you-” she snarled, before rearing back and slapping Laura across the face, the vampiric blow rocking the girl’s head back.

Laura saw stars, her face exploding in pain, until a sound cut through her daze.

“MOTHER!”

It seemed that the blow had woken Carmilla from her shock; she advanced towards where Morgan and Laura stood, looking both angry and afraid.

“Mother, don’t touch h- this is insanity!”

Morgan looked at her for a moment speculatively before raising her eyebrows in amusement.

“My goodness, dear, you’re certainly concerned about what happens to this human…”

She stepped to Laura, still watching Carmilla, before seizing Laura’s hair and pulling her lolling head back up, Laura barely feeling the yank through her aching face. “Another hunter? I suppose she is comely enough, dear, but surely you remember what happened with the last one?”

Carmilla put her hands out, her face wretched. “Mother, please, she isn’t- you can’t-"

Morgan let go of Laura’s hair, letting the girl’s head slump back against the knife and wiping her hands on her dress. “That is where you are wrong, darling, where you’ve always been wrong. I can, and I will.”

She waved a dismissive hand at the guards, strolling back to the center of the room. “Kill them all.”

The guard tensed against Laura, raising the knife and preparing to slash her throat. At the same moment, Laura exploded into action, dropping her stunned act and catching the guard’s hand just before he brought the knife down, forcefully twisting.

The move caught him by surprise, giving Laura the opening she needed, and she twisted his arm out of the way before turning in his hold and sharply kneeing him in the groin. Vampire or no, the act still caused him to gasp in pain and drop his hold on her. Without a pause, she unsheathed the dagger strapped to her thigh and plunged it into his chest, at his heart.

The guard’s eyes grew wide, but instead of collapsing – she was sure she had staked him – he seized her shoulder and slashed at her with the dagger he still clutched; she managed to sidestep the worst of the attack, wincing at a sudden pain in her side, but shook it off, pulling the dagger free from his chest.

“Nice try,” she growled at the guard. Then, she raised the knife and staked him once more; he fell to the ground without a sound and was still, before crumbling to dust.

Around her, she could hear the sounds of struggle as the rest of the group fought their respective captors; Danny and Kirsch had freed themselves and were assisting LaFontaine and Perry, the latter of whom was fighting with surprising ferocity, haranguing the guard at every turn and proving impossible for him to seize.

She rounded on Morgan, who was watching the proceedings with shocked fury. “I already warned you, Morgan – never underestimate the hunters.”

Morgan glared at her. “You insolent humans _will_ learn your place, that I promise you. And you especially, Miss Hollis…well, I’ve always been a fan of punishment by proxy.”

She turned to Carmilla, who shrank in on herself. Laura watched, feeling rage swell in her chest; Lilita Morgan had clearly cast a dark shadow over the entirety of Carmilla’s immortal life, and had put the girl through torment like no other. And worse, she placed the blame solely at Carmilla’s feet.

Morgan advanced on her daughter, smiling cruelly. “Sweet Carmilla. What a mistake you were.”

She staggered then, and it took her a moment to realize that the pain was radiating from the dagger Laura had thrown at her back. She took several more steps before sinking to her knees.

“Hey! Morgan! The only mistake here is that House Hollis didn’t take you out a century ago,” Laura snarled, advancing on her and ignoring the increasing stinging in her side. “Carmilla is a better leader, a better _person_ than you will _ever_ be.”

“What- what treachery is this-” Morgan gasped out, her face looking pained for the first time.

“Oh yeah,” Laura said, shrugging. “Forgot to mention – that dagger is poisoned. We insolent, miniscule human hunters are pretty good at that. Whaddya know.”

“If you think this nonsense will- will stop me-"

“Oh my god, do you _ever_ stop monologuing? Give it a rest already,” Laura interjected, looking annoyed.

She met Carmilla’s gaze – the girl’s eyes wide with shock – and nodded, before holding out the guard’s knife to her, handle first. “Carm. This person has done nothing for you. You can do this.”

Carmilla gazed at her for a long moment before accepting the dagger, turning to look at Morgan.

The fallen vampire looked up at her, looking unsure for the first time. “Carmilla- darling- can’t you see, anything I’ve ever done, I’ve done for your improvement-”

But those were the wrong words to say. Any uncertainty playing on Carmilla’s face was wiped clean, replaced with a vast wrath. “My _improvement_? My _betterment_? Pray, tell me, how was countless decades locked in a coffin for my own good?”

She advanced on Morgan. “You have only ever used me for your own ends. It ends now.”

Morgan’s eyes widened, before she suddenly smiled. “Carmilla, you would kill the one who made you? Your own mother?”

The words had no effect, and Morgan’s smug smile dimmed; Carmilla simply shook her head, decided. “You’re not my mother. You never were.”

With that, she grasped Morgan by the shoulder and raised the dagger high with the other; they all watched the scene for a frozen moment before she brought it down, staking Morgan cleanly through the heart.

Lilita Morgan screamed, a high, thin sound, before the noise abruptly cut off and her body turned to dust before their eyes.

Carmilla staggered back, still clutching the dagger, staring at the spot where she had been. Laura watched intently, unsure of what to do, before suddenly a look of deep calm came over Carmilla; she stood straight, finally overcoming the long shadow of her mother, before turning to Laura.

“You did it,” Laura said.

Carmilla regarded the dagger. “I did.”

They looked at each other for a long moment, before a noise from above them caught their attention; Carmilla looked up and found the shocked gazes of 160 vampires staring at them in utter horror.

There was a beat of silence, and then the room exploded into noise, the sounds of dozens of terrified and confused vampires demanding information. Laura, who was feeling dizzier by the second as the adrenaline wore off, realized belatedly that the Hall must have been charmed to prevent their escape using their vampiric abilities; the clans' leaders had been unable to leave the room or even the stands.

But the fact was becoming increasingly unimportant; as she watched Carmilla deal with the clamor, she felt herself moving slower, her thoughts coming sluggishly. Carmilla finally noticed the girl’s lethargy and caught her by the elbow. As she did so the rest of the group joined them in the center of the room, regarding the vampires around them tensely and looking decidedly worse for the wear.

“Laura, Laura, are you okay?” Carmilla asked concernedly, pulling the girl close.

 Laura stared at her unblinkingly before pulling the hand that had been pressed to her side away. They all gasped as it came away red with blood.

Carmilla’s eyes widened, but before she could do anything more Laura had doubled over, coughing weakly until her frame shuddered and she spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Laura-!”

Laura collapsed to the ground, her eyes slipping shut, and was still.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are...

Carmilla strode through the main gates of the Hollis compound, hiding her nerves behind a bored expression and blithely ignoring the numerous hostile glares directed her way.

In the past week she had grown accustomed to both entering the compound in broad daylight and in clear view of its inhabitants (brutally repressing memories of a fresh-faced, overly idealistic girl ushering her through a side gate in the dark of night), and then facing their simmering resentment (so unlike the kind acceptance and quiet talks that had carried her through those weeks).

Though she’d had centuries of experience in concealing her emotions behind a blank mask, she could plainly see the anger on the House Hollis hunters’ faces, and couldn’t repress the guilt that came with it.

If only she’d been faster…smarter…able to shrug off the clinging hold of her mother…

But there was no time for recrimination, now. What had happened, had happened. And Carmilla had to deal with the present.

She made her way through the now familiar path up to the study of House Hollis’ leader, feeling suspicious glares on her all the while. Though this wouldn’t have been her preferred way of meeting William Hollis, she’d been forced to rather quickly grow accustomed to dealing with him.

After all, it wouldn’t do for the head of the Karnstein clan to not be able to handle negotiations.

Her mask slipped at the thought – the intense stress and chaos of the past seven days had surely left their mark – and it was a moment before she was able to reform it, albeit with some difficulty. She couldn’t afford to show any weakness now, not here in the house of her enemies.

(She suppressed the rebellious voice at the back of her head, the one suggesting that this was _not_ the house of her enemies, that it hadn’t been for some time, that perhaps it was time for a new start.) 

Carmilla turned into the hallway where the study was located, trying not to think about how many times Laura must have walked down this same hall. She didn’t have the luxury of basking in nostalgia right now – the future of her clan, perhaps of all the clans, rested on her shoulders. What a joke that was.

 _“Carmilla is a better leader, a better_ person _than you will_ _ever_ _be.”_

She smiled bitterly. Laura had always seen the good in people. Regardless if it was actually there.

Carmilla forced the thoughts aside as she reached the door to the study. After staring at it for a few moments, trying to decide just how necessary this _actually_ was – surely the Treaty would sort itself out – she sighed and, squaring her shoulders, knocked firmly.

There was a pause before a voice emanated from within. “Enter.”

She took a breath and entered the room. William Hollis sat at his desk, reports piled before him. His eyes were cold and unfriendly as they took her in. He didn’t stand.

“Miss Karnstein. How do you do.”

She held back a sigh. So it wasn’t a good day, then. “Very well, thank you.”

They stared at each other for a moment, Carmilla feeling more awkward by the second, until he finally extended a grudging hand to the visitor’s chair before the desk. She sank into it, eyeing him carefully.

He looked even more tired than he had two days ago, when she had met him last; deep lines of exhaustion and stress were etched into his face, and there were at least three cups of coffee scattered around him, though by the looks of it, all had long grown cold.

As always, she struggled to decide how best to approach the issues at hand. His demeanor, naturally suspicious, was increased tenfold as the details of what had been occurring literally under his nose for the past several weeks – and Carmilla’s involvement in it – came to light.

Needless to say, he wasn’t the girl’s biggest fan. Carmilla had gotten the distinct impression several times during their first meeting that he’d like nothing more than tear her a new one – literally _and_ figuratively – but had held himself back in an impressive show of restraint. He’d maintained that restraint since then, but also made no great attempts to be anything other than prickly.

Carmilla had wished often that she could send some intermediaries in her place and have done with it, but the desire was curbed by the knowledge that this was a task only a clan leader could accomplish; not to mention, she knew she was on thin ice with her clan and the others. Being able to successfully come to new terms with House Hollis would go a long way towards demonstrating her capability as a leader.

(And how miserable was it that this was something that now mattered to her. She’d toyed with the thought of simply walking away from the clan, setting off on her own and exploring the world like she’d always dreamed of, but the thought of her treacherous brother or someone equally incompetent and horrible assuming control turned her off the idea. For now, anyway.)

The sound of a throat being cleared drew her from her thoughts, and she realized that she’d fallen silent while Hollis watched her, looking similarly thoughtful.

“Well, Miss Karnstein? Has your clan come to a decision about the new terms?”

Carmilla felt a flash of irritation at his word choice; it hadn’t been accidental. “My _clan_ will follow _my_ decisions, Mr. Hollis. You needn’t worry about that.”

His lips quirked upwards – he’d been slipping in these little tests throughout their conversations, though if it was to actually get her measure or just for his amusement, Carmilla didn’t know. Either way, it was annoying as hell.

“Very well. Have _you_ come to a decision?”

She sat up straighter. Now they were coming to the point. “I agree that more communication is necessary, certainly. More oversight – to a certain extent. That term is a bit vague for my liking.”

Hollis tipped his head in acknowledgement. “That can certainly be hashed out in finer detail. And the patrols…?”

Carmilla stared at him flatly. “Not a chance.”

The mood in the room cooled noticeably. The two stared each other down from either side of the desk before Hollis broke the silence, raising his eyebrows. “Not a chance, hmm? You’re awfully sure of your position, Miss Karnstein.”

“I’m not sure why you’d ever think I’d agree to having _your_ hunters patrol _my_ territory,” Carmilla retorted pointedly.

He leaned forward, dropping the amused expression without a pause. “On the grounds that we managed it quite well just several days ago, in a move that led to your rescue,” his voice grew hard, “And left my daughter bleeding out on the floor of _your_ assembly hall.”

Carmilla suppressed a wince, her breath catching in her throat. She’d expected his ire, of course, his suspicion, certainly. But she should have anticipated just how far his vindictiveness could go. She found her voice with an effort. “Laura knew what she was doing. She came to the estate on her own volition-”

“ _Don’t_ try to tell me that you had nothing to do with it, Miss Karnstein,” he snapped, smoothly cutting her off. “No doubt you’ve been pouring poison into her ear for the past month.”

Carmilla glared back, now just as annoyed. “We discovered Lilita Morgan’s plans together, that’s true,” she said. “But I never had any desire to have her confront Morgan. It was her decision to come to the estate – because, as you may remember, I was locked in a _coffin_ in the dungeons.”

He had the grace to look a little abashed – that is, until another thought occurred him, causing his brows to draw together once more. “Be that as it may, the fact remains that my daughter was stabbed and poisoned on _your_ territory, surrounded by vampires and a mere handful of hunters!”

“And why do you think that was?” Carmilla snapped, losing the last of her patience. “Why do you think she never breathed a word to you about her plans?”

Hollis glared at her, drawing in a breath for another tirade, but she cut him off. “Because you treated her like a child, never mind that she’s in line to take your place!”

He colored furiously. “How _dare_ you-”

“Are these supposed to be negotiations?”

The two looked sharply at the source of the interruption, only to stop short in surprise. A very pale, very irritated Laura Hollis stood at the doorway, her arms crossed and looking distinctly unimpressed.

Carmilla gaped in astonishment for a second before springing to her feet. “L- Laura! I didn’t know you were out of bed!”

Laura’s father was looking similarly distressed. “Sweetheart, why _are_ you out of bed?”

Laura rolled her eyes at the both of them. “Because the doctor cleared me from bed rest yesterday. Like he told you.”

“Oh, but are you sure-”

“Dad,” Laura interjected, walking into the room. “I’ve been laying in bed for the past week. I’m bored out of my mind and feeling fine. And I _would_ have left you two alone,” – here she glared pointedly at them – “had I not heard you yelling at each other all the way from my room!”

Her father and Carmilla looked down ashamedly, Carmilla wondering at Laura’s ability to put a fully grown man and a centuries-old vampire firmly in their place.

She jumped at the feeling of someone taking her hand, and looked up to see Laura smiling at her. “But hi. It’s really nice to see you.”

Carmilla gazed at her for a moment, simply soaking the sight of her in, before managing a smile, suddenly very aware of the scowl Laura’s father was directing at her. “Likewise. You weren’t looking too hot last time I saw you.”

A cough drew their attentions, and they looked up to see William Hollis glaring at their joined hands. “Is this really the time?”

The question was enough to draw Laura’s ire once more, and she dropped Carmilla’s hand so that she could point rather accusingly at her father. “Dad, were you threatening Carmilla? I told she had no idea about my plan!”

He frowned right back. “I was not _threatening_ Carmilla, Laura. We were merely discussing terms of the new Treaty-”

“Your ‘discussing’ sounded more like a fistfight about to happen,” Laura said dryly.

“If only,” Carmilla muttered.

Laura shot her a dirty look while her father puffed up once more. “Fine. Perhaps we got a little too animated. But Laura, you almost died! I can’t just let that go!”

Laura sighed. “Okay, yes, I got hurt, but do I need to remind you that Carmilla is also the only reason I’m alive? If she hadn’t gotten me back to the compound in time to reverse that creepy anti-coagulating agent I never would have made it.”

“I know, sweetheart, but if anything had happened to you I- I don’t think I could bear it, I-” he cut off suddenly, looking pained, and for a moment Carmilla could see the true grief in his eyes.

Laura watched him, her face softening. “Carm, could you give us a minute, please?”

Carmilla jolted, moving from where she had been awkwardly watching the scene unfold. “Ah, yes, of course.” She hastily saw herself out, doing her best not to listen to the voices she could still plainly hear through the closed door.

Walking a ways down the hall until she could at least somewhat block out their voices – vampiric hearing really was quite something – she leaned against the wall, letting the emotions she’d been trying to keep at bay finally wash over her. Seeing Laura after what had been a horrible week was more than a small relief.

Last time she had seen Laura, she was being placed onto a stretcher, her eyes closed and growing ever paler as she bled through the bandages they’d hastily wrapped before leaving the Karnstein estate. The sight of her, so helpless, perhaps even veering towards death, had burned itself into Carmilla’s mind and for the next week made sleep an impossibility.

After Laura had collapsed at the Chapel, Carmilla and the hunters had tried to administer first aid, at first thinking it to be a simple stab wound, but the sheer volume of blood Laura was losing quickly made them rethink the assumption.

Panicked, Carmilla had shifted into her panther form, uncaring of their reactions, and had made them secure Laura’s body to her before she bolted from the building, heading to the Hollis compound in record time; the Karnstein estate’s medical facilities were rather barebones (vampires didn’t need much in the way of healthcare) and she suspected that the compound’s would be suited exactly for this purpose.

Carmilla snorted lightly now, thinking of it. She wasn’t wrong – quite the opposite – but in her panic she’d rather failed to consider the reaction the sight of an enormous, decidedly threatening panther with House Hollis’ heir tied to its back might garner. She’d hardly entered through the gates before she was surrounded, hunters circling her and brandishing an impressively wide variety of weaponry.

The watch on the wall above her had trained their rifles on her as well, and she’d rolled her eyes at the red lasers dotting her fur before directing her gaze at the most senior looking hunter among the group, nearly giving her a heart attack by speaking in her mind and apprising her of the situation. The hunter had recovered with admirable speed, though, and while still suspicious, had ordered the others to untie Laura and summon the medics.

Lawrence, the scientist, and the others of Laura’s party had finally arrived then – they’d clearly been taking their own sweet time, perhaps stopping for a snack on the way back, Carmilla thought disdainfully – and through breathless pants had vouched for her. Just in the nick of time, too, as none other than William Hollis had appeared then, striding in from the compound and looking murderous. (And, Carmilla thought to herself, more than a little afraid.)

At the sight of Laura’s motionless body something had gone out of his face, and Carmilla had feared for a moment that she would have to take charge, but then he had stiffened and roared for the medics, who finally appeared and collected Laura, who by this point had soaked entirely through her bandages.

In the operating theatre, the House’s medical team quickly identified an anti-coagulating agent in the stab wound; Carmilla – who had shifted back to her human form, giving the hunters another heart attack in the process – recognized with dismay it as one her mother had favored, as it prevented wounds from clotting as quickly and, she supposed, would have worked rather well for the sacrifice’s purposes.

Luckily, the House’s research team (led by LaFontaine) had long ago developed an antidote to the agent and were able to administer it in time, though it had been far too close for Carmilla’s liking; Laura had lost a great deal of blood, and the medical team had made it clear that she would be confined to bed until they deemed her sufficiently recovered. 

After it had been established that Laura would survive, all attention had been directed to Carmilla, who, watching her chances of making a quiet exit quickly diminishing, saw them disappear altogether when William Hollis, his face pale and grave, had pointed a finger at her and said, “Explain,” his voice brooking no argument.

So she had. Carmilla explained her moth – _Morgan’s_ plan, the winding path she and Laura had taken to discover it – carefully leaving out any details of what may or may not have been any burgeoning feelings the two had for each other – and finally her kidnapping, allowing LaFontaine and Danny to supply additional details when necessary, keeping it short and to the point.

The sun was just beginning to rise when Carmilla had finished the whole sorry tale and answered Hollis’ questions, and she could hear the distant noises of the morning watch taking their places on the wall. Hollis had sat back, looking at her consideringly for a long moment before Carmilla had made it clear that she needed to return to the estate and deal with whatever chaos sure to be awaiting her.

He’d grudgingly acquiesced, but not before requesting that she return to the compound as soon as possible. She’d stared at him, confused. “Is there something else you needed?” she’d asked.

“In a manner of speaking,” he’d replied. “I want to review some of the terms in the Treaty. In light of all that’s happened.”

“And that concerns me directly because…?”

He’d looked at her, surprised. “Because it appears that you’re head of your clan now, Miss Karnstein. And we have matters to discuss.”

The reply had jolted her, and she’d left feeling very sick indeed. That feeling hadn’t faded in the week that followed, not through the uproar of the clans, the backlash and intrigue she’d fought through, not through her ascension to the leadership of the clan, nor through the current negotiations she was handling on behalf of the clans.

Negotiations, she thought tiredly, that could be going better. William Hollis was understandably upset and concerned by all that had transpired, and Carmilla agreed with some of the terms he’d put forth, but others were so outrageous she found it hard to believe he’d extended them for any other purpose than to try and punish her and the clans.

He was angry about what had happened to Laura, of course. Carmilla herself was sick with guilt, had been since that night. Hollis had forbidden her from seeing Laura when she came for their meetings, saying that she needed her rest and was not to be disturbed (and also making it clear that he didn’t trust Carmilla within a foot of his daughter, much to her chagrin). He’d dropped a few grudging updates about her condition now and again, but by and large had remained silent on the matter.

Until today, that is. Perhaps his explosion was for the best – now that he’d gotten his anger out into the open, they could finally address it and move forward. Carmilla had struggled with dealing Hollis in general; she was still adjusting to being in such an important role with so much responsibility on her shoulders, and the added complication of him being Laura’s father didn’t make things any easier. Especially not when she inquired too insistently about her condition, making his brows furrow in suspicion until she’d backed off.

She’d sighed, letting her head bump back against the wall. Laura. Seeing her, responsive and on her feet, was an enormous relief, and calmed the worst of Carmilla’s worries. But Carmilla was old and cynical enough to recognize that the real complications for the two of them, now that they were no longer racing against a life-threatening plan, had only just begun.

The sound of a door creaking drew her from her increasingly depressing thoughts, and she looked up to see Laura poking her head out from the study.

“Carm?”

She straightened, raising her eyebrows inquisitively. “Everything okay?”

Laura smiled. “Yeah, I think so. Wanna come back in?”

Carmilla shot her a look that very clearly said, _What do you think?_ , before sighing and making her way back to the room. Time for round two, apparently.

To her surprise, however, William Hollis no longer looked ready to throw a punch. Rather, he looked even more abashed than he had earlier, and upon seeing Carmilla, rubbed the back of his neck.

“Miss Karnstein. I, ah. The House, that is, _I_ wish to apologize for the more egregious terms put forth. I shall withdraw them.”

Carmilla felt her eyebrows climbing. Whatever she’d expected, an apology certainly was not it. But, hey, she certainly wasn’t going to complain.

He stared at her, clearly uncomfortable. She stared back, content to let him stew a bit, before feeling a sharp pinch on her side. She turned to see Laura giving her an insistent look, and held back a sigh. Dammit. Should have known she wasn’t coming out of this unscathed either.

“Thank you. And…” Oh, for god’s sake. “What I said earlier. About your, er. Parenting skills. It was unfair and untrue.” She smiled wryly. “As the fact that we’ve reached détente clearly shows.”

He smiled back, only a little strained. “Indeed.”

They looked at each other warily, clearly unsure of how to proceed, when Laura clapped her hands together.

“Great!” she said, smiling brightly. “I’m glad you two could handle this like adults. In fact, to celebrate, I think we should end negotiations for the day.”

“We should?” Carmilla heard herself ask.

Laura sent her a meaningful look, one that Carmilla had no idea how to decipher. “Yep!” She turned to her father. “Dad, Carmilla and I are going for a walk.”

He sat up straight, looking alarmed. “A _walk_?! Sweetheart, you just got off bed rest yesterday-”

“Yeah, and I’m feeling totally better! A walk will be good for me. Using my legs, all that fresh air. And Carmilla will be with me!”

He didn’t actually say “That’s what I’m afraid of” out loud, but the message still came through loud and clear.

Carmilla winced. Normally she had no qualms about rocking the boat, but this was Laura’s father, for heaven’s sake, and she had to work with the man for at least several weeks to come. Laura, on the other hand, seemed content to remain blithely ignorant of his expression (or pretend not to see it, anyway), and after a few more parting words seized Carmilla’s hand and steered her from the room, Carmilla giving Hollis a weak smile as she left.

“A walk?” she muttered to Laura as they left the compound.

Laura kept a fixed smile on her face. “If I don’t get out this compound in the next five minutes I’m going to go insane. So we’re going for a walk.”

“…A walk sounds great.”

As they left the grounds and headed for Woodrow Park at Laura’s suggestion, Carmilla felt herself relaxing. Being away from countless unfriendly gazes was a relief, and getting an unexpected reprieve from parlaying with William Hollis even more so. Laura, for her part, was looking happy just to be outdoors and beyond the walls of the Hollis compound.

They made small talk on the way, content to skate around the larger issues they’d just spent weeks confronting. Every now and again they paused – Laura, for all her bluster, was still weak, and needed a break to regain her breath.

During one such break, Carmilla noticed with a sick jolt that she could see a bruise on Laura’s face, fading now but still visible, from where Morgan had struck her, and felt another wave of shame. How could she have failed so badly? But she put the feeling aside at Laura’s inquiry, forcing a smile as they continued on.

When they reached the park, Carmilla felt a wave of déjà vu crash over her. The park was just as beautiful and cheery as it had been the day of their “secret” meeting, with children running around as their parents watched and elderly couples strolling. The only thing missing was-

“We just need that so-called brother of yours to show up, and we’re set,” Laura said wryly as they walked up to a bench.

Carmilla smirked as they sat. “Something tells me William won’t be a nuisance for a while to come.”

“Oh?”

“After your little cocktail finally wore off – nice going, by the way – it wasn’t that difficult getting him to talk when he saw how truly screwed he was. And when it became clear just how complicit he was in Moth- _Morgan’s_ plan, the clans were not overly inclined to forgiveness,” Carmilla said, shrugging. “He’s imprisoned for now, with a sentence of at least several centuries, if not outright death awaiting him.”

“…Wow,” Laura said after a moment. “And how are you, uh, taking it?”

Carmilla felt her lips lift back in what was probably a rather bloodthirsty snarl. “The fool was always too prone to mindless sycophancy. No, he cast his lot with Morgan. Now he has to pay for it.”

Laura nodded silently, and they sat for several moments before she said tentatively, “You know, this place is kinda nice when it’s not being ruined by horrible conspiracies and little brothers from hell.”

Carmilla smiled. “That it is.”

Laura turned to her, her eyes wide and serious, and Carmilla felt a flash of dread; she had a feeling she knew what was coming, and if there was one thing she didn’t overly enjoy discussing, it was-

“How are you?”

She winced. Laura was getting way too good at reading her mind. She shrugged carelessly, trying to go for nonchalant. “It’s been a long week, cupcake, but I’ve had worse.”

Laura didn’t bother gracing that with a reply, just giving her a baleful look, and Carmilla sighed and relented.

“These things take time,” she said quietly. “But I was only in there for several days – hardly signifies compares to decades.”

She felt Laura take her hand, and then, to her horror, her eyes burning. Dammit. Vampires did _not_ cry. “Carm…”

She rubbed her eyes with her free hand. “I wasn’t kidding, though. There’s been a million things for me to handle this week. Didn’t really afford much time for wallowing.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. Guess I should be calling you Countess now too, huh?” Laura said, letting her change the subject.

Carmilla smiled humorlessly. “Please don’t.”

They say for a moment, before Laura said, “I’m sorry that it happened this way, though. And for everything else they did to you.”

She sat up straight in surprise. Why did Laura sound, of all things, _guilty_? “Laura, you had nothing to do with it.”

Laura shook her head, tearing up herself. “Carm, I was the one who kept making you come back to the labs, who wouldn’t let it go…those things they did to you, if I’d just stopped none of it would have happened-”

Carmilla couldn’t help it. She laughed. Laura flinched back as if Carmilla had struck her, but before she could reply Carmilla cut in, still smiling. “No, no, I’m not laughing at you, it’s just,” she paused to control her grin, “I’ve been feeling so horrible this entire week about what happened to you and it turns out that you’ve been feeling guilty about what happened to me!”

Laura stared, her eyes wide and watery. Carmilla noted, vaguely disgusted with herself, that she found Laura adorable even (especially?) now. God, she was a goner. “But you had nothing to do with that!”

She squeezed Laura’s hand. “That’s what I’m telling you, Laura…we’re beating ourselves up, but we didn’t do any of those things to each other. We don’t have anything to do with it.”

Laura looked at her, clearly deciding whether to believe her or not. Just when Carmilla thought she might yield, the girl’s face crumpled again, and she said, “Oh, but Carm, the coffin, and your mother-”

But she wasn’t able to finish the thought; Carmilla had apparently lost patience, and opting for an alternate route, took Laura’s face between her hands and, before the girl could react, leaned in and kissed her.

Laura sat still for several seconds, shocked into immobility. Just when Carmilla was starting to panic and estimating how possible it was to run a clan and hold negotiations without ever leaving the estate again, the girl mercifully came to life, and instead of punching Carmilla in the face or jabbing her with a syringe or anything else hunter-y, she instead leaned forward and kissed Carmilla back, at which point the vampire’s mind went pleasantly blank.

The moment couldn’t last however; Laura finally came up for air, and instead of soulfully gazing into Carmilla’s eyes or declaring her undying (okay, bad word choice) love, she instead said, “It’s just that I feel so bad about everything-”

Okay, she clearly was not getting it. Carmilla leaned in and kissed her once more, and this time, to her relief, was met enthusiastically. _Finally_.  

Just when Carmilla was beginning to think that they should head elsewhere, lest they ruin too many children’s innocence by essentially making out on a public park bench, the choice was made for her.

“Hey, hunter hottie!”

Laura parted from Carmilla with a gasp at the call, and searched for the source of the interruption. Carmilla, disgruntled, noted smugly that at least the girl looked a bit dazed, her cheeks stained a rather fetching pink.

Her good mood was quickly spoiled, however, by the sight of that hulking hunter, Kirsch or whatever his name was, strolling up the path with the scientist and that redheaded hostage they’d rescued in tow. All three were sporting what could only be described at shit-eating grins.

Kirsch waved a hand. “Hey, ladies. Hope we weren’t interrupting anything.”

Carmilla found this unlikely, considering how quickly his eyebrows were wiggling, but before she could make the depths of her displeasure known Laura cut in. “Hey, Kirsch. LaF, Perry.” The newcomers waved. “Kirsch, have we or have we not talked about you calling me that?”

Kirsch winced. “Uh, yes. Just seeing you with the punk hot- um, _Carmilla_ , kinda threw me. Sorry.”

“I’ll bet you are,” Carmilla said, her voice icy. “And is there a reason the entire Hollis hunter crew is here?”

Kirsch opened his mouth, but before he could reply LaFontaine interjected, saying hastily, “Uh, yeah. Laura’s dad mentioned that you two were hanging out here, so we thought we’d join you guys and maybe grab a burger or something?”

They shot an apologetic look at Carmilla as they said this, making it clear that this “surprise” encounter had not been entirely their choice. Carmilla grimaced; she and Laura really would have to talk about Laura’s father at some point, hopefully sooner than later.

She shot a glance at Laura, who now, mostly recovered, just shrugged. Carmilla sighed, and said, “Alright, we’ll come.”

Kirsch cheered. “Excellent. We’re headed to Shake Shack. Danny’s meeting us there, isn’t that awesome?!”

“Truly amazing,” Carmilla deadpanned.

“You guys go on ahead, we’ll catch up in just a second,” Laura said.

Kirsch looked ready to protest, but LaFontaine nudged him forward, waving an accommodating hand at the duo. “No worries, you two take as long as you need!”

They waited until the three were farther down the path before Laura turned to Carmilla, looking worried. “Sorry about that, I, uh, guess my dad isn’t totally cool with all this.”

Carmilla shook her head. “I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised.”

Laura bit her lip. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“No, no…it’s fine. As much as it pains me to say it, the dimwit squad isn’t the most painful company in the world.”

She met Laura’s eyes. “And if it means spending more time with you, I’ll come.”

Laura smiled brilliantly before throwing her arms around Carmilla, who after a moment’s surprise reciprocated the embrace. “Thank you,” Laura whispered, and quickly kissed her before bounding off the bench, her face pink, and racing to catch up with the others, all before Carmilla could react.

Carmilla stared after her before breaking into a soft smile, shaking her head. Getting up to follow, she couldn’t help but think that she was in much more trouble than she’d anticipated.

They had numerous obstacles littering their path, none easy to confront or solve: Carmilla’s new position as head of her clan, Laura the heir of her House (the house dedicated to fighting Carmilla’s kind, no less), the remaining fallout from Morgan’s plot. Not to mention the small factor of Carmilla’s immortality.

Any one of those points would have made the Carmilla of a month ago ready to drop the whole idea, but as she caught up with Laura, who smiled and took her hand, she thought that perhaps now there was little that could dissuade her.

Together, she thought, they might be able to right the numerous faults in the complex and thorny relationship between the vampires and hunters, and put it on a new, more promising path. Curb the worst of the clans’ tendencies and give the hunters new reasons for trust.

“Carm? You okay?” she looked up to see Laura’s eyes on her, concerned.

“Never better,” she replied, smiling. And for the first time in centuries, she actually meant the words.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, Blood & Steel is lovingly put to a close.
> 
> This story is a bit of a personal achievement for me; it's by far the longest thing I've ever written and my first multi-chapter fic as well. Thank you to everyone who kept up with the story, and for all the input and encouragement along the way.
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this story, and hope you enjoyed it as well. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think, and thank you again!


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